HM Treasury

Coastal Areas

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total amount of central Government spending was on initiatives focusing on marine and coastal communities in each of the last five years.

Elizabeth Truss: The Coastal Communities Fund encourages economic development through sustainable economic growth and jobs. Between 2012-13 and 2016-17, spend was £15,538,789, £2,936,246, £19,258,377, £39,237,505 and £15,189,904. Coastal Community Teams are local partnerships that develop forward plans for their community. In 2015-16 and 2016-17, spend was £1,180,000 and £280,000. The Coastal Revival Fund supports unlocking the heritage economy and businesses seeking to grow with the revival of coastal sites. In 2015-16 and 2016-17, spend was £3,000,000 and £700,000.Other programmes that have delivered additional benefits to these communities include:- European Maritime Fisheries Fund (£15.6m from 2013 to date)- Flood and Coastal Risk Management Programme (£2.5bn to be spent between 2015 and 2021)

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average age is of a child with a named tax-free childcare account.

Elizabeth Truss: The average age of children who have a Tax-Free Childcare account is between 3 and 4 years. The childcare service, through which parents can apply for Tax-Free Childcare, is currently open to families whose youngest child was born on or after 1 April 2013.

Landfill Tax

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much each local authority has paid in landfill tax in each of the last five years.

Andrew Jones: Landfill Tax is chargeable on material deposited at a permitted landfill site in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The operator of a permitted landfill site is liable to pay the Landfill Tax directly to HMRC. Landfill Tax devolved to Scotland in April 2015. The majority of local authorities outsource their waste disposal services, and their disposal contracts will include an amount for Landfill Tax. HMRC therefore does not hold details of how much Landfill Tax each local authority has indirectly paid in the last five years. A small number of local authorities pay some Landfill Tax directly to HMRC. As these Local authorities may also outsource some of their waste disposal services, HMRC is unable to confirm if the amount paid directly is the full amount they have paid.

Overseas Aid

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department takes to ensure that UK Official Development Assistance not spent under the provisions of the International Development Act 2002 is spent in a way that is likely to contribute to a reduction in poverty.

Elizabeth Truss: The UK Aid Strategy, published in November 2015 (CM 9163), is clear that the government shapes all of its ODA spending according to the four strategic objectives set out in the strategy. All four of these strategic objectives support poverty reduction and all are aligned with the UK national interest. The Aid Strategy also commits the UK to drive progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, which have the eradication of poverty as their central objective. In order to qualify as ODA, all expenditure must meet the eligibility criteria established by the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee.

Whisky: Scotland

Douglas Ross: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the net worth to the UK economy of the Scottish whisky industry.

Douglas Ross: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what impact assessment was undertaken ahead of the March 2017 Budget on its effect on the whisky industry.

Andrew Jones: In terms of the economic impact of Scotch Whisky, more information can be found in the Scotch Whisky Association report “The Economic Impact of Scotch Whisky Production in the UK”. The Government published its assessment of the impacts of the Spring Budget alcohol duty changes in the Tax Information and Impact Note, which can be found online at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alcohol-duty-rate-changes/alcohol-duty-rate-changes

Whisky: Excise Duties

Douglas Ross: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what effect the reduction in whisky duty in 2015 had on Government revenues.

Douglas Ross: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what effect the freeze in whisky excise duty in 2016 had on Government revenues.

Andrew Jones: The impact of alcohol duty changes on Government revenues can be found in Table 2.1 of the Budget documents from 2015 and 2016. These are central estimates certified by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility.

Whisky: Excise Duties

Brendan O'Hara: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the reasons are for Scotch whisky being taxed at a higher rate than wine; and if he will make a statement.

Brendan O'Hara: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the (a) number of people employed in, (b) volume of sales in and (c) amounts of duty levied from the Scotch whisky industry as a result of the March 2017 Budget.

Brendan O'Hara: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the increases in excise duty on the levels of sales of Scotch whisky as a result of measures in the March 2017 Budget.

Andrew Jones: The taxation of spirits reflects its higher alcoholic strength relative to other drinks. While spirits pay more duty per unit of alcohol they pay less per typical serving of alcohol. The Government published its assessment of the impacts of the Spring Budget alcohol duty changes in the Tax Information and Impact Note, which can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alcohol-duty-rate-changes/alcohol-duty-rate-changes

Beer: Excise Duties

Steve Double: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the progressive beer duty regime to ensure that the excise duty system supports growth in British beer exports.

Andrew Jones: Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force. The UK duty regime complies with EU Directives on rates and structures of alcohol excise duty. The European Commission is currently undertaking a review of the Alcohol Structures Directive and we expect this to conclude in due course.

Beer: Excise Duties

Steve Double: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the operation of the Small Brewers Relief scheme to remove barriers to growth for the UK's small and medium-sized brewers.

Steve Double: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has considered the report from Europe Economics commissioned by the Small Brewer Duty Reform Coalition; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: The Treasury engages with a wide variety of organisations to understand industry developments, including the beer and pub industry and public health groups. This government is aware of concerns about Small Brewers Relief, it has invited views on how it can be reformed in a way that the whole sector could support. All taxes are kept under review at fiscal events, and we will consider these issues carefully as part of the Autumn Budget process.

In Work Credit: Vale of Clwyd

Chris Ruane: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many recipients of in-work tax credits there are in the Vale of Clwyd; and how many and what proportion of those people will see their income (a) increase, (b) remain the same or (c) decrease as a result of the roll-out of universal credit.

Elizabeth Truss: There were 2,800 families in the Vale of Clwyd receiving in-work tax credits on the 2nd April 2017. This information is from Table 4 of HMRCs Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics: Provisional Award Geographical Analyses which can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/613427/cwtc-geog-Apr17.pdf Information on the number and proportion of people that will see their income increase, remain the same, or decrease as a result of the roll-out of universal credit is not available at constituency level.

Revenue and Customs: Income

Chris Stephens: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information HM Revenue and Customs holds on the amount of cash to bank generated by its debit management staff on an average working day through their direct interactions with taxpayers and claimants.

Chris Stephens: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate HM Revenue and Customs has made of  the (a) cost of employing and (b) projected cash to bank that may be generated by employing additional collectors in debt resolution teams.

Mel Stride: In 2016-17, HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC’s) debt management staff collected £36.2 billion. If it is assumed that there are 251 working days in a year then this equates to roughly £143 million per working day. HMRC does not hold the further estimate requested.

Alcoholic Drinks: Excise Duties

Preet Gill: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of funds which have not accrued to HM Treasury since the abolition of the Alcohol Duty Escalator.

Andrew Jones: The government ended the alcohol duty escalator for beer in 2013, and for cider, wine and spirits in 2014. The impact of ending the duty escalator on government revenues can be found in Table 2.1 of the Budget documents from 2013 and 2014. These are central estimates certified by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility.

Business

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his oral contribution of 24 October 2017, Official Report, column 158, on delivering reassurance to business in accordance with its needs, what form that reassurance will take.

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his oral contribution of 24 October 2017, Official Report, column 158, on delivering reassurance to business in accordance with its needs, when he plans that reassurance to be delivered.

Stephen Barclay: Since the referendum, HMG has carried out extensive and diverse engagement with hundreds of businesses of all sizes across the UK on the potential implications of our withdrawal from the EU. The Chancellor has played, and will continue to play, a crucial role in this engagement. In September, he chaired the first meeting of the Business Advisory Group, a new group created by government to ensure that business is not only heard but is influential throughout the negotiations. It is jointly chaired by the Chancellor, Business Secretary and Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, and attended by the five main business representative bodies (CBI, IoD, EEF, BCC and FSB). The second meeting, chaired by the Business Secretary, took place yesterday. The Chancellor has also attended the two meetings of the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council, which brings together leading business figures from various sectors and provides a direct link to business on the Government’s Brexit strategy. Treasury Ministers have also taken part in other cross-government engagement events. And the Chancellor continues to engage with businesses across the economy to understand their perspective not just on Brexit, but on all issues affecting their operations. In addition to this, Treasury ministers and officials continue to undertake a wide range of business engagement with firms from across the economy. This is particularly focused on, but not limited to, Treasury’s priority areas of financial services and customs. The government remains committed to making the UK the best place in Europe to own and grow a business. That includes supporting those businesses that trade with the EU and wider international markets, as well as continuing to encourage record foreign direct investment that supports business and communities up and down the country.

Government Departments: Brexit

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what financial provision has been made across Government for the period after March 2019 in the event that no deal is reached during negotiations between the UK and the EU in (a) the current financial year and (b) each of the next two financial years.

Elizabeth Truss: The Treasury has committed over £250 million of additional spending in 2017-18 to prepare for Brexit from the Reserve. Departmental allocations will be set out at Supplementary Estimates in the usual way. This is in addition to the £412m of additional funding over the parliament announced at Autumn Statement 2016 for the Department of International Trade, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for Exiting the European Union. That means the government has allocated over half a billion pounds so far in funding to ensure a successful exit from the EU. An update on Brexit spending will also be provided at Autumn Budget.

Sugar: Taxation

Preet Gill: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether further fiscal measures are being considered to target foods high in sugar and fat.

Andrew Jones: The government currently has no plans to introduce further fiscal measures on sugar and fat. However, the government keeps all taxes under review at fiscal events and we will consider this issue carefully as part of the Autumn Budget process.

Prime Minister

USA: Bombardier

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Prime Minister, whether she discussed Bombardier and its business interests in the US with the Secretary of State for International Trade prior to his visit to that country in July 2017.

Mrs Theresa May: Ministers across government, including me, have had discussions about a range of issues relating to international trade and investment. This is in addition to engagement with senior officials in the US Administration and lawmakers, with the Canadian Administration, and with Bombardier in Canada and Belfast.

Department for Work and Pensions

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households with a disabled family member are subject to the removal of the spare room subsidy.

Caroline Dinenage: As of May 2017, there were 414 thousand households in Great Britain who had a deduction made from their Housing Benefit due to the removal of the spare room subsidy. Of these, there were 278 thousand where the claimant or partner was receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). The Government has provided easements to allow an additional bedroom for couples and children who are unable to share a bedroom due to their disability, or where a non-resident overnight carer (or group of carers) is required for an adult, child or non-dependant adult. From 2011 the Government has provided around £900 million to date to local authorities to help support vulnerable people affected by different welfare reforms. This includes £25 million per year to support disabled people living in significantly adapted accommodation, including any adaptations made for disabled children.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people living in social tenancies are subject to the removal of the spare room subsidy in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) England, (c) the East Midlands and (d) Nottingham North constituency.

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people living in social tenancies and receiving housing benefit are subject to the removal of the spare room subsidy in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) England, (c) the East Midlands and (d) Nottingham North constituency.

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in receipt of housing benefit are subject to the removal of the spare room subsidy in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) England, (c) the East Midlands and (d) Nottingham North constituency.

Caroline Dinenage: The numbers of households with Housing Benefit (HB) deductions due to the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy (RSRS) by the geographies requested as of May 2016 are shown in the table below. These figures are also expressed as proportions of:- all Social Rented Sector households;- all households claiming HB;- all Social Rented Sector households claiming HB.  Households with an RSRS deductionTotalProportion of all Social Rented Sector householdsProportion of all households claiming HBProportion of all Social Rented Sector households claiming HB.Great Britain432,3609%9%13%England331,7608%8%12%East Midlands29,0509%10%14%Nottingham UA4,25012%12%17%Nottingham NorthTop of Form 2,060 -15%19%

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the savings to the public purse as a result of the removal of the spare room subsidy in each year since its introduction.

Caroline Dinenage: The information requested is in the tables below. Table A – Housing Benefit Spare Room Subsidy deductions, 2013/14 – 2016/17 Financial YearSavings (£m)2013/143852014/153652015/163552016/17335 These figures do not take into account any additional savings due to behavioural change before/after the policy has been introduced, for example moving to a smaller property to avoid a deduction.

Unemployed People: Travel Cards

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to (a) promote awareness of the Jobcentre Plus Travel Discount Card among jobseekers and (b) encourage travel companies to promote the scheme as widely as possible.

Damian Hinds: Jobcentre Plus Travel Discount Card: Jobcentre Plus has administered the current scheme on behalf of Rail Delivery Group (formerly Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) since 2011 in England and 2012 in Scotland.a) The card is currently issued at work coach discretion subject to current eligibility and is valid for up to 3 months. The Work Coach (WC) is responsible for ensuring that all eligible claimants are aware of the travel discount scheme in England, Wales and Scotland.Departmental Instructions are available to all work coaches and regular reminders are issued to all Jobcentres to encourage use of the scheme. . b) The Rail Delivery Group promotes the Travel Discount Card Scheme via their own individual Company websites. DWP encourages all Transport Companies to promote the scheme and works with them to ensure that all eligible claimants can take advantage of discounts on offer to support them into work.

Jobcentres: Glasgow

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 25 October 2017 to Question 108098, on jobcentres: Glasgow, whether his Department plans for staff working in Shettleston, Easterhouse, Bridgeton and Parkhead Jobcentres to have changes made to their employment contracts.

Damian Hinds: As location is stipulated in contracts for DWP staff, a change of location due to Building for our Future impacts would be considered a change to a colleague’s contract.

Universal Credit

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 25 October 2017 to Question 108094, on universal credit: Glasgow East, what the longest length of time in days was that a universal credit applicant has waited for their initial payment to date.

Damian Hinds: There is no data broken down by area or region. However, data published on 2 October 2017 shows that, nationally, 81% of new full service claims received their first payment in full and on time. Across the whole of Universal Credit 92% of all households received full payment on time. The published data can be found here.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-payment-timeliness-january-to-june-2017

Independent Living Fund

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many former recipients of financial support from the Independent Living Fund in England received (a) improved or equal financial support or (b) reduced such package from local authorities administering the successor scheme.

Penny Mordaunt: This information is not collated centrally and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

Universal Credit

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department provides jobcentre staff on whether, and in which circumstances, to advise clients voluntarily to switch from legacy benefits to universal credit.

Damian Hinds: There is no guidance for claimants to voluntarily switch from legacy benefits to Universal Credit. Claimants can not choose to migrate to Universal Credit. Currently, they will only move to Universal Credit if they have a change of circumstances. We will start to migrate existing claimants from 2019.

Universal Credit

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that claimants voluntarily switching from legacy benefits to universal credit are not at a financial disadvantage as a result.

Damian Hinds: Some claimants on legacy benefits will experience a change of circumstance which means they will need to make a new claim to Universal Credit, and their entitlement will be re-calculated based on their new circumstances. Universal Support (US) provides help for those who need assistance to manage their claim online and/or help with budgeting in order to manage their monthly payments and prioritise essential bills such as rent and utilities. US is advice, assistance or support from Jobcentre Plus or local partners to help Universal Credit claimants with managing their claim or award of Universal Credit. This includes accessing and using online services or managing their financial affairs. Universal Credit has made US grant-funding available to local authorities to help deliver this. Personal Budgeting Support (PBS) is offered to Universal Credit claimants at the outset of their claim. PBS helps claimants as they transition to Universal Credit and adapt to the financial changes that Universal Credit brings. PBS can be online, telephone or face to face support. Face to face support is delivered through Local Authorities via Universal Support.

Universal Credit

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of notification given to claimants who are being transferred to universal credit is.

Damian Hinds: Managed migration of existing benefit claimants to Universal Credit will begin from July 2019 and this will be completed by March 2022.When we migrate live service cases to the full service, this process normally begins three months after our office moves onto full service.

Universal Credit

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of loans and grants to claimants in financial difficulty after being transferred to universal credit in each month since that benefit was introduced.

Damian Hinds: Universal Credit advances are recovered from subsequent UC payments so there is very little cost to the public purse save for a small number of cases where recovery does not occur.

Universal Credit

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of training provided to staff in his Department to inform claimants of financial assistance available in the event that they experience financial difficulty while being transferred to universal credit.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the funding allocated to help alleviate debt for claimants being transferred to universal credit in each quarter from Autumn 2017 to Spring 2022.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of claimants who are being transferred to universal credit have asked for help in managing debt; and how many and what proportion of those people have received assistance from a (a) jobcentre and (b) departmental agency in each nation and region of the UK.

Damian Hinds: We do not hold this data as we have not commenced managed migration.Claimants are not being transferred from legacy benefits to Universal Credit until 2019 and this will be completed by March 2022. We have committed to pay transitional protection to all claimants who move to Universal Credit as part of this process and whose entitlement is less than their entitlement to existing benefits and tax credits.Some claimants on existing benefits will experience a change of circumstance which means they will need to make a new claim to Universal Credit. As part of this Universal Support is help for those who need assistance to manage their claim online and/or help with budgeting in order to manage their monthly payments and prioritise essential bills such as rent and utilities.We are making £200m available to deliver Universal Support (US). US is advice, assistance or support from Jobcentre Plus or local partners to help Universal Credit claimants with managing their claim or award of Universal Credit. This includes accessing and using online services or managing their financial affairs. Universal Credit has made US grant-funding available to local authorities to help deliver this.There is no assessment of the effectiveness of training provided to staff in this Department informing claimants of financial assistance because this will not start until 2019.There are no specific funds for the transfer of debt when claimants are moving from legacy benefits to Universal Credit. All claimants are now made aware they can claim an advance which should smooth the transition from old to new systems.Personal Budgeting Support (PBS) is offered to Universal Credit claimants at the outset of their claim. PBS helps claimants as they transition to Universal Credit and adapt to the financial changes that Universal Credit brings. PBS can be online, telephone or face to face support. Face to face support is delivered through Local Authorities via Universal Support.

Home Office

Criminal Investigation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to encourage police forces in the UK to investigate unresolved historic investigations.

Mr Nick Hurd: It is for operationally independent Chief Constables to make decisions in relation to the investigation of crimes within their force area whilst having regard to the Policing Protocol Order 2011.Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) are elected by the public to hold Chief Constables and the force to account; making the police answerable to the communities they serve.

Home Office: Standards

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to (a) reduce the time taken for decisions to be made by her Department and (b) improve her Department's performance against its service standards.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Office regularly publishes performance data as part of the quarterly Home Office Transparency release, including elements such as performance against service standards and applicant satisfaction.The Home Office regularly reviews its capacity plans and resources and redeploys staff where necessary to help meet and maintain service standards for individual services or routes, for example by bringing in extra staff to meet the recent increase in demand for our services from European citizens.The Home Office has well developed transformation plans which will improve productivity and performance and further improve the quality and timeliness of services we provide for our customers

Motorcycles: Helmets

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2017 to Question 105367, on motorcycles: helmets, what discussions she has had with the police on whether suspects being pursued should be included in the category of any road users.

Mr Nick Hurd: On 25 September, I announced a review into the law, guidance and practice on police pursuits following concerns raised by the police. In taking forward this review, we will be consulting the police and others with an interest.

Fire Prevention

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in ensuring that (a) adequate fire safety arrangements and (b) appropriate fire drills, including evacuations, are carried out for (i) hospitals, (ii) schools, (iii) care homes and (iv) women's refuges.

Mr Nick Hurd: Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, a responsible person (usually the employer or building owner) must carry out regularly a fire risk assessment and ensure effective fire safety arrangements are in place, and maintained, to protect all those using the premises.Local fire and rescue authorities are the enforcing authorities in the majority of premises which the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies. Under the National Framework for Fire and Rescue in England, each authority must determine its own risk-based inspection programme and have in place a management strategy for enforcing its provisions.It is for competent fire safety officers in each authority to consider, on the basis of their audit and/or inspection findings, whether the general fire precautions in place in any particular premises are sufficient to comply with the requirements of the Order. Where shortcomings are identified, fire and rescue authorities have a range of enforcement powers, up to and including prosecution, to ensure any necessary improvements are made.Details of the number and outcome of fire and rescue authority audits under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in 2016/17 are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-prevention-and-protection-statistics-england-april-2016-to-march-2017

Rifles: Licensing

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans to introduce a licensing regime for air rifles.

Mr Nick Hurd: I announced a review of the regulation of air weapons on Monday 9 October. Details of the scope of the review will be set out shortly

Alcoholic Drinks: Minimum Prices

Preet Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of establishing minimum unit pricing for alcohol.

Sarah Newton: Public Health England's evidence review of the public health burden of alcohol and the cost-effectiveness of alcohol control policies presents strong international evidence to show that price-based interventions can be effective in reducing levels of consumption and the harms associated with alcohol The introduction of Minimum Unit Pricing in England and Wales remains under review pending the outcome of the legal case between the Scotch Whisky Association and the Scottish Government, and the impact of the implementation of this policy in Scotland.

Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether trade union experience is considered desirable in recruitment of members of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority board; and if she will make a statement.

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons the board of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority includes no members with recent trade union experience.

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with trade unions on the effectiveness of the board of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority; and if she will make a statement.

Sarah Newton: The Board of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) is constituted under The Gangmasters (Licensing Authority) Regulations 2015. Recruitment to the Board follows a fair and open process in line with the Government’s code of practice on public appointments.Anyone with relevant experience and ability to contribute to the GLAA Board is able to apply to recruitment rounds.The Home Secretary has not discussed the effectiveness of the GLAA Board with trade union representatives.

Refugees: Children

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make a statement on the effectiveness of multi-agency intelligence-sharing to identify the needs of unaccompanied child refugees in Europe.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to improve arrangements for the (a) registration and (b) transfer of refugee children to the UK.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to broaden the criteria for vulnerability under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.

Brandon Lewis: There are currently seven routes through which asylum seeking and refugee children can legally enter the UK. To access the UK resettlement schemes, individuals register with UNHCR. Under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, over 8,500 individuals have been resettled to the UK, around half of whom are children. Our strategy is to resettle the most vulnerable children directly from conflict regions, with their family members, so they do not have to make perilous journeys alone.Within the EU, the primary responsibility for unaccompanied children lies with the Member State in which they are present. We work closely with EU partners and organisations such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to identify and transfer children to the UK in line with each individual Member State’s national laws. In 2016, over 900 children were transferred from the Europe to the UK.In March, the Government published the basis upon which further referrals under section 67 will be made: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/policy-statement-section-67-of-the-immigration-act-2016. We have invited referrals of children who meet the eligibility criteria that they were present in Europe before 20 March 2016 and transfer is in their best interests. In deciding which children to refer, Member States have been asked to prioritise those likely to qualify for refugee status and/or the most vulnerable. Vulnerability can be defined by factors which include, but are not limited to, the UNHCR’s Children at Risk factors. It is for Member States to decide which children to refer.More broadly, we continue to work with our European partners to manage migration and ensure our collective security. Intelligence exchange between UK law enforcement and Europol is well-established and routine, including on human trafficking. The National Crime Agency also support Europol with seconded staff, including within the European Migrant Smuggling Centre. This cooperation has and continues to assist UK efforts to tackle trafficking in human beings, including children.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Football: Crime

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that football ground staff are equipped with clear lines of complaint and procedures for dealing with victims of crime within football grounds.

Tracey Crouch: Stewards and ground staff play a vital role in ensuring the safety and security of spectators. Operational delivery of sports grounds safety at individual grounds is ultimately a matter for the ground management. Local Safety Advisory Groups are the multi-agency forums where ground management, police and other local agencies come together to develop a corporate approach to site specific spectator safety, including ensuring that stewards have the necessary training and that incident reporting lines, including those relating to potentially criminal incidents, are clear to all staff.

Department of Health

Patients: Transport

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to provide adequate transport services for the elderly.

Steve Brine: We have interpreted this query as being about transport services for elderly people who are attending routine hospital appointments. Non-emergency patient transport services (PTS) are available for patients that meet certain criteria, including but not limited to those who are elderly and satisfy one or more of the criteria outlined in the document Eligibility Criteria for Patient Transport Services. A patient’s eligibility for PTS should be determined either by a healthcare professional or by non-clinically qualified staff who are both clinically supervised and/or working within locally agreed protocols or guidelines, and employed by the National Health Service or working under contract for the NHS.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the number of accident and emergency department admissions for lower respiratory tract infections.

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the number of accident and emergency department admissions for asthma.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the number of accident and emergency department admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia.

Steve Brine: Winter preparedness planning including maximising uptake of flu immunisation is key to reducing the number of accident and emergency department admissions for all respiratory conditions. Seasonal influenza surveillance arrangements are in place to monitor influenza throughout the year. These systems look to determine the level of influenza-like illness in the community and provide this information to relevant organisations and government departments. This information informs public health recommendations to clinicians, such as the use of antivirals in primary care and the management of seasonal influenza on respiratory health. Regarding chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), NHS England is launching a COPD Pathway for clinical commissioning groups in December with a specific focus on improving anticipatory care in order to reduce the need for hospital admissions.

Medicine: Education

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the recommendations of the Mental Health Workforce Plan, published by Health Education England in July 2017, whether his Department plans to allocate additional medical student places to medical schools which have demonstrated a proven track record in producing psychiatrists.

Mr Philip Dunne: On 3 October 2017, the Higher Education Funding Council for England and Health Education England invited universities to bid for 1,000 additional medical school places available from September 2019. This is part of a historic expansion announced by my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health in October 2016 and includes an additional 500 places allocated for September 2018 entry. The published criteria against which bids will be assessed for the remaining 1,000 places include how proposals support specialities such as psychiatry and general practice.

Meningitis: Vaccination

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reason there has been no public communication on the delay to the cost effectiveness methodology for the immunisation programme and procurement process for the meningitis B vaccine for children who are more than two years old.

Steve Brine: The report of the Cost Effectiveness Methodology for Immunisation Programmes and Procurements (CEMIPP) review was submitted to the Department in July 2016. This report is about immunisation methodology in general and not Meningitis B vaccination specifically. It is a technically complex report that could have implications beyond immunisation. The then Parliamentary under Secretary of State for Public Health and Innovation (Nicola Blackwood), therefore referred it to the Appraisal Alignment Working Group (AAWG) for advice and this is due later in the year. There has been no public communication because there has been no delay, the AAWG are still due to give their views to ministers later in the year. It is important not to pre-empt the AAWG’s considerations but to give them the time they need to consider the CEMIPP report and reflect on subsequent research. The Department will consider the CEMIPP report alongside the AAWG advice and remains committed to publishing the CEMIPP report in due course.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients were admitted to hospital with a primary diagnosis of soft tissue inflammation from accident and emergency departments in each month of financial year (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14, (e) 2014-15, (f) 2015-16 and (g) 2016-17.

Mr Philip Dunne: A count of unplanned accident and emergency (A&E) attendances1 resulting in an admission2 and a primary diagnosis of soft tissue inflammation3, for the financial years between 2010-11 and 2016-174 is in the table below. This is a count of hospital attendances resulting in admissions, not individual patients as the same person may have been admitted into a National Health Service hospital on more than one occasion.  2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-162016-17April2,1242,4962,3542,3082,2142,4422,307May2,1692,5442,4942,4342,4332,4882,517June2,1282,5592,3032,3142,2512,5482,441July2,0142,6572,4342,4002,2682,5762,517August2,0412,5842,3592,2892,2582,6052,470September1,9682,3532,2662,2102,2862,4682,256October1,9532,4112,2892,1532,1942,4672,214November1,6722,4482,2562,0812,0872,2112,053December1,8642,2862,3072,3551,9512,2842,114January1,9342,3142,2472,2551,8792,2482,118February1,8352,2641,9852,1361,7792,2281,989March2,0162,3172,2732,4571,9842,3452,477 Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS Digital Notes: 1The following attendance category codes identify unplanned A&E attendances:1 = First A&E attendance3 = Follow-up A&E attendance – unplanned9 = Not known2Attendance disposal 01 = Admitted to hospital bed / become a lodged patient of the same health care provider.3A&E Diagnosis – The recording of the diagnosis field within the A&E data set is not mandatory. It is not known to what extent changes over time are as a result of improvements in recording practice.03 = Soft tissue inflammation4HES figures are available from 2007-08 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care. Note that HES include activity ending in the year in question and run from April to March, e.g. 2012-13 includes activity occurring between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients were admitted to hospital with a primary diagnosis of a gastrointestinal condition from accident and emergency departments in each month of financial year (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14, (e) 2014-15, (f) 2015-16 and (g) 2016-17.

Mr Philip Dunne: A count of unplanned accident and emergency (A&E) attendances1 resulting in an admission2 and a primary diagnosis of gastrointestinal conditions3, for the financial years between 2010-11 and 2016-174. This is a count of hospital attendances resulting in admissions, not individual patients as the same person may have been admitted into a National Hospital Service hospital on more than one occasion.  2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-162016-17April20,54521,25823,41525,13424,42824,25924,998May20,70322,19823,49924,42725,43125,46526,873June19,62521,22923,23822,79625,19724,73426,348July20,68021,59323,13324,72025,25826,15826,501August20,63421,82623,03724,49025,18125,99426,106September19,66421,58622,98523,89524,65625,44025,856October20,28622,74824,79324,79025,03926,64725,898November20,06922,24423,90524,52423,22925,52224,232December18,38722,43022,98625,06922,02024,61024,565January19,95323,38023,07825,63321,66026,02524,359February19,03022,05921,85824,04720,99524,67722,796March21,85823,45425,80626,50723,27526,00025,940 Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS Digital Notes: 1The following attendance category codes identify unplanned A&E attendances:1 = First A&E attendance3 = Follow-up A&E attendance – unplanned9 = Not known2Attendance disposal 01 = Admitted to hospital bed / become a lodged patient of the same health care provider.3A&E Diagnosis - The recording of the diagnosis field within the A&E data set is not mandatory. It is not known to what extent changes over time are as a result of improvements in recording practice.26 = Gastrointestinal conditions4HES figures are available from 2007-08 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care. Note that HES include activity ending in the year in question and run from April to March, e.g. 2012-13 includes activity occurring between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013.

Medicine: Research

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve the (a) transparency of publicly-funded medical research and development and (b) accessibility and affordability of medicines developed from public research.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Research can only improve the lives of people or the wider United Kingdom economy if it can be accessed. A culture of openness also improves the quality and relevance of the research we support. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is funded through the Department to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. The NIHR invests over £1 billion into health and public health research and is committed to “adding value in research” by maximizing the potential impact of research that it funds for patients and the public. This means ensuring that it answers the right questions (including effectiveness and cost effectiveness of interventions), delivers research efficiently and publishes results in full in an accessible and unbiased way. Full and open access to the knowledge generated by research is of the utmost importance to the NIHR. Our commitment to transparency, our NIHR Journals Library, open access policy, and our endorsement of the World Health Organization joint statement on the disclosure of results ensures that ideas and knowledge derived from publicly funded research are made available and accessible for public use. The Government works to improve accessibility and affordability of medicines, whether funded through public research or in the private sector, through a number of activities involving a range of parties. The Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Act 2017 (the Act) amends the NHS Act 2006 to:- Put beyond doubt that the Secretary of State can require companies in the statutory scheme to make payments to control the cost of health service medicines;- Enable the Secretary of State to require companies to reduce the price of an unbranded generic medicine, or to impose other controls on that company’s unbranded medicine, even if the company is in the voluntary scheme, currently the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme 2014, for their branded medicines; and- Enable the Secretary of State to make regulations to obtain information on sales and purchases of health service products from all parts of the supply chain, from manufacturer to pharmacy, for defined purposes. The Government will respond shortly to the Accelerated Access Review (AAR). The AAR made recommendations to get transformative drugs and treatments to patients faster whilst ensuring the National Health Service gets value for money and remains at the forefront of innovation. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal guidance and the associated funding requirement plays an important role in ensuring that patients have access to cost-effective new medicines, including medicines developed from public research. The NIHR provides support for the development of new medicines, primarily through its investment in early translational research infrastructure in the NHS and through a range of research funding programmes. The funding provided for the NIHR research infrastructure provides the expertise and facilities the NHS needs for first-class research, which health and life sciences industry researchers can access at any stage of the clinical development process. This helps drive faster translation of basic science discoveries into tangible benefits, for patients and the health system and has been specifically designed to close the gaps in translation identified in the Cooksey review in 2006. All NIHR research infrastructure actively supports contract and collaborative research with the life sciences industry, and supports the commercialisation of new research and related technologies, including through spin-outs and licensing arrangements. This supports the translation of new medicines and helps grow new companies (including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)). This helps ensure the UK remains one of the best places to develop and launch innovative medicines, technologies and diagnostics, benefitting patients and the health system. NIHR research programmes generate high quality evidence on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of medicines for the NHS and public health services, including informing NICE guidance. The NIHR funds a number of programmes, of which The Health Technology Assessment programme is the largest. It funds independent research about the effectiveness, costs and broader impact of healthcare treatments and tests for those who plan, provide or receive care in the NHS. The NIHR also funds the Invention for Innovation (i4i) Programme that supports collaborative research and development projects in medtech SMEs, universities and the NHS on the development of innovative medical technologies by de-risking early stage projects that have a strong potential for acceptance for use in the NHS, as well as make them attractive to follow-on funders and investors. The NIHR Innovation Observatory (NIHRIO) applies state-of-the-art data analytics to explore trends in health innovation across drugs, medical technologies, diagnostic tools and healthcare services. Using digital tools, NIHRIO appraises and supplies timely information to stakeholders including the Department, policymakers, academia and industry, so that developments leading to better and more cost effective healthcare can be identified. The Department is also working alongside the Association of Medical Research Charities and a number of their members to look at how information from medical research into medicines can be translated more systematically to marketing authorisations and into patient care.

Brain: Injuries

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with clinical bodies on medication to reduce the risk of brain damage following incidents of concussion.

Steve Brine: We are not aware of any such discussions.

Diabetes: Screening

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of introducing a recommended diabetes test for people over the age of 40.

Steve Brine: No assessment of a diabetes test for people over 40 has been made. However, NHS Health Checks, introduced in 2009, provides an assessment for all people aged between 40 and 75 every five years. This health check involves an assessment of diabetes risk. The first stage of this diabetes risk assessment is a risk questionnaire and if required a second stage blood test is undertaken to determine evidence of type 2 diabetes or not.

Swine Flu: Vaccination

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with clinical bodies on the administration of the anti-flu vaccine by high street pharmacists.

Steve Brine: NHS England is responsible for the commissioning of flu vaccination delivery, including by community pharmacies. As part of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework, the terms of delivery through pharmacies is subject to discussions between NHS England and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee. NHS England has not had any recent discussions with clinical bodies about the commissioning of this service.

Health: Standards

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve the UK's relative international status for healthier living.

Steve Brine: The Department has taken a number of steps to improve the health of the population. This includes action at the national level, such as our world-leading programme to combat childhood obesity, implementation of one of the most comprehensive vaccination programmes in the world and the publication of the new Tobacco Control Plan for England in July 2017. The latter sets out a range of commitments which aim to deliver significant further reductions in smoking prevalence by 2022, as part of a long-term goal to create a smokefree generation. The Government also charges Public Health England through its annual remit letter to take steps to tackle major public health issues and thereby promote healthier living. At the local level local authorities have the role of improving the health of their populations, backed by £16 billion funding over the Spending Review period. The United Kingdom performs well on a number of public health indicators; for example, adult smoking rates in the UK are down to their lowest levels at just below 16% in 2016 and are one of the lowest in Europe, whilst by 2014 late diagnosis among newly diagnosed HIV cases in the UK had fallen to 22%, significantly better than the EU21 average of 27%.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2017 to Question 316, on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), what estimate he has made of the number of admissions for COPD in each of the next 10 years.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2017 to Question 316, on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), what estimate he has made of trends in the number of (a) diagnoses and (b) finished episodes in each of the next 10 years.

Steve Brine: This data is not held centrally. NHS RightCare is a national NHS England supported programme committed to delivering the best care to patients, making the National Health Service’s money go as far as possible and improving patient outcomes. Although RightCare collects prevalence and diagnosis data, no future prediction calculations have been made for England. The National Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Audit continues to collect secondary care data. The core aim of the National COPD Audit Programme is to drive improvements in the quality of care and services provided for COPD patients, which is accomplished through five key workstreams, including a continuous audit of admissions to hospital with COPD exacerbation.

Primary Health Care: Complaints

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of complaints made against GPs and dentists.

Mr Philip Dunne: Complaints handling is an important part of the Government’s programme of work. Changes to the way complaints data are collected has led to increasing return rates from all primary care practices but in particular general practice and dental care providers which, as anticipated, has contributed to the increase in the number of complaints recorded. The Department has established the Complaints Improvement Partnership with key stakeholders to improve complaints handling and the experience of people making a complaint about NHS services. It also examines how all National Health Service organisations (including general practitioners and dentists) respond to feedback and complaints. Including most importantly, learning from them to improve services to the public.

Health Visitors

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of the future role of health visiting including reference to the alleviation of poverty for the new-born population.

Jackie Doyle-Price: No assessment has been made on this. Health visitors do provide support to families most in need through signposting them to schemes and organisations that can assist their needs, for example families on low income will be signposted towards the Healthy Start Scheme.

Health Visitors

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the Local Government Association on the future role of health visitors.

Jackie Doyle-Price: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health regularly meets with stakeholders to discuss a variety of topics.

Female Genital Mutilation

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that data on cases of FGM are collected and made public.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department’s Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Prevention Programme with NHS England introduced the first ever FGM data collection across the National Health Service, published quarterly by NHS Digital as an official statistic on the NHS Digital website. The data is collected by healthcare providers in England including acute hospital providers, mental health providers and general practitioner practices. It mandates clinicians to record patient demographic data, specific FGM information, referral and treatment information. The information is being collected to gain a clearer national picture of the prevalence of FGM and to deepen the health sector’s understanding of the practice. It is also used to inform how NHS England and other sectors provide services for women and girls with FGM, and to indicate national trends. To improve rates of compliance with the enhanced dataset, NHS Digital analyse the reports to follow up with trusts who are not submitting data, to improve the completeness of the collection. NHS Digital also issued a Data Provision Notice on 25 November under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to communicate more clearly the requirement to comply with the dataset and set out its benefits. In addition, we continue to work with the Royal Colleges of General Practitioners, the British Medical Association and others to further improve compliance.

Influenza

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential severity of the 2017-18 influenza season.

Steve Brine: International surveillance data identifies trends in seasonal influenza across different parts of the world. While this provides useful information, it cannot be assumed that influenza activity observed in other countries predicts the influenza strains which might circulate in the United Kingdom nor the level of seasonal influenza activity. Public Health England is responsible for monitoring data on influenza activity on a weekly basis during the winter months, and this data is carefully assessed on an ongoing basis. Current data shows low levels of flu activity.

Influenza

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential implications of the 2017-18 influenza season for respiratory health.

Steve Brine: Seasonal influenza surveillance arrangements are in place to monitor influenza throughout the year. These systems look to determine the level of influenza-like illness in the community and provide this information to relevant organisations and government departments. Public Health England is responsible for monitoring data on influenza activity on a weekly basis during the winter months, and this data is carefully assessed on an ongoing basis. Current data shows low levels of flu activity. Monitoring enables prompt identification of any increases in influenza activity to forewarn communities and the specific influenza strains involved and any changes in the virus. This information informs public health recommendations to clinicians, such as the use of antivirals in primary care and the management of seasonal influenza on respiratory health. Maximising uptake of flu immunisation, including amongst those with chronic respiratory disease, remains a key strategy. International surveillance data identifies trends in seasonal influenza across different parts of the world. While this provides useful information, it cannot be assumed that influenza activity observed in other countries predicts the influenza strains which might circulate in the United Kingdom nor the level of seasonal influenza activity.

Influenza: Vaccination

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to promote influenza vaccination.

Steve Brine: Public Health England, in partnership with NHS England, is currently running the Stay Well This Winter campaign which encourages people who are most at-risk of preventable emergency admission to hospital to take actions to help them stay well. These actions include getting a flu vaccination and visiting a pharmacy at the first sign of a winter illness. The campaign launched on 9 October 2017 and promotes uptake of the flu vaccination to people with long term health conditions, people aged 65 years and over, pregnant women, carers and eligible children. Stay Well This Winter is a national multi-channel campaign that includes television, radio, social media, public relations and digital activity. This is supported by an extensive partnership programme to amplify reach through local authorities, the National Health Service, pharmacies, commercial manufacturers of over the counter medicines, the energy sector, charities, employers and many other organisations.

Influenza

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress the Government has made on making available improved influenza products to protect vulnerable people and people aged over 65.

Steve Brine: General practitioners (GPs) can order inactivated influenza vaccine directly from manufacturers. The current influenza vaccines have generally provided an important level of protection to elderly people. Influenza vaccines are authorised for use in the United Kingdom following a thorough review of efficacy, safety and quality by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency or the European Medicines Agency. A new adjuvanted vaccine is available for GPs to order for use in the 2018/19 season.

Influenza

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to help protect (a) vulnerable, (b) elderly and (c) other people from influenza.

Steve Brine: Public Health England, in partnership with NHS England, is running the ‘Stay Well This Winter’ campaign which encourages people most at-risk of preventable emergency hospital admission to take actions helping them stay well e.g. flu vaccination and visiting a pharmacy at the first signs of a winter illness. The National Health Service annual influenza vaccination programme helps to protect those who are most at risk of serious illness or death by targeting the most vulnerable individuals such as pregnant women, those aged 65 and over, those with chronic health conditions, carers and health and social care workers working in care homes and domiciliary settings, in England. Vaccination is also offered to healthy children (this year those aged two to three years of age, those in reception class, and school years one to four are all eligible) to both protect young children and to reduce the wider spread of flu in households and communities.

Hospitals: Waiting Lists

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 2.33 of the Operating Framework for the NHS, whether it remains Government policy that minimum waits must take account of the healthcare needs of individual patients.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Operating Framework for the National Health Service for 2012/13 that the Department published in November 2011 is no longer current. NHS Operating Planning and Contracting Guidance for 2017-19 is the current operating guidance. Patients are treated based on clinical assessment of priority. The NHS Constitution outlines that patients have a right to start consultant-led treatment within a maximum of 18 weeks from referral for non-urgent conditions. If this is not possible, the NHS must take all reasonable steps to offer a suitable alternative provider that can treat them sooner, if this is clinically appropriate and it is what the patient wants. Clinical priority is the main determinant of when patients should be treated followed by the chronological order of when they were added to the list. Clinicians should make decisions about patients’ treatment and patients should not experience undue delay at any stage of their referral, diagnosis or treatment.

North Middlesex Hospital

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve patient safety at North Middlesex Hospital.

Mr Philip Dunne: NHS Improvement is taking a number of actions to support North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust to improve patient safety including enhanced oversight, the introduction of an Emergency Care Improvement Programme, regular clinical quality and incident reporting site visits and the provision of challenged provider funding. An Improvement Director and peer support is also being arranged. In addition, North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust will be given a bespoke action plan from NHS Improvement, with the expectation that during winter the Trust will deliver month on month improvements on the percentage of patients seen within the four hour accident and emergency access target.

North Middlesex Hospital

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received on patient safety at North Middlesex Hospital.

Mr Philip Dunne: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary for State has not received any direct representation on patient safety at North Middlesex University Hospital in the last six months. A search of the Department’s Ministerial correspondence database has identified four items of correspondence received since 1 April 2017 about patient safety at North Middlesex Hospital. This figure represents correspondence received by the Department’s Ministerial correspondence unit only.

Patients: Transport

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to assess how local NHS commissioners interpret eligibility criteria for hospital transport services.

Steve Brine: The assessment of eligibility for patient transport services is a matter for local National Health Service commissioners.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent estimate his Department has made of the average cost to the NHS of an emergency admission for a lower respiratory tract infection.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent estimate his Department has made of the average cost to the NHS of an emergency admission of asthma.

Mr Philip Dunne: In 2015-16, the average cost to the National Health Service of an emergency admission for a lower respiratory tract infection was £1,338. In 2015-16, the average cost to the NHS of an emergency admission for asthma was £862.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients were admitted via accident and emergency departments with a primary diagnosis of an ENT condition in each month of (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14, (e) 2014-15, (f) 2015-16 and (g) 2016-17.

Mr Philip Dunne: A count of unplanned accident and emergency (A&E) attendances1 resulting in an admission2 and a primary diagnosis of ear, nose and throat (ENT) conditions3, for the financial years between 2010-11 and 2016-174 is in the table below. This is a count of hospital attendances resulting in admissions, not individual patients as the same person may have been admitted into a National Health Service hospital on more than one occasion.  2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-162016-17April2,1452,3182,4882,7073,0192,9433,287May2,0862,1942,6312,5542,8332,8013,531June1,9992,1632,4022,4072,6402,8403,128July1,9382,1632,4422,4222,6082,9013,177August1,7652,1042,1672,1752,3422,5172,825September1,7911,9422,2032,1042,2072,5602,719October1,8892,2802,5182,5502,6392,8972,952November1,8042,2502,5732,5942,5143,0143,017December2,1342,4312,8942,7482,8293,1113,196January2,0372,4602,5882,8452,5683,2663,049February1,9682,4372,5602,8312,4593,3183,133March2,3012,6242,9313,0142,8223,6963,492 Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS Digital Notes: 1The following attendance category codes identify unplanned A&E attendance1 = First A&E attendance3 = Follow-up A&E attendance – unplanned9 = Not known2Attendance disposal 01 = Admitted to hospital bed / become a lodged patient of the same health care provider.3A&E Diagnosis - The recording of the diagnosis field within the A&E data set is not mandatory. It is not known to what extent changes over time are as a result of improvements in recording practice.34 = ENT conditions4HES figures are available from 2007-08 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care. Note that HES include activity ending in the year in question and run from April to March, e.g. 2012-13 includes activity occurring between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients were admitted via accident and emergency departments with a primary diagnosis of a head injury in each month of (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14, (e) 2014-15, (f) 2015-16 and (g) 2016-17.

Mr Philip Dunne: A count of unplanned accident and emergency (A&E) attendances1 resulting in an admission2 and a primary diagnosis of head injury3, for the financial years between 2010-11 and 2016-174 is in the table below. This is a count of hospital attendances resulting in admissions, not individual patients as the same person may have been admitted into a National Health Service hospital on more than one occasion.  2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-162016-17April3,4903,5803,4663,3503,5313,7013,639May3,6963,8163,8963,5753,7803,8404,023June3,2843,6173,5223,6363,8843,9723,762July3,4883,9473,7233,8374,0264,1863,945August3,4473,7823,8583,8843,8973,9974,233September3,5213,8513,8373,6973,8514,1023,978October3,3513,9273,7433,6093,7504,0734,107November3,0163,7613,3893,7403,6033,6343,623December2,8153,9123,3443,7193,3793,4943,720January3,0233,3793,1863,5893,2213,4823,293February2,9253,1662,9813,3972,9323,1503,158March3,3033,6793,2644,0543,5843,5033,640 Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS DigitalNotes:1The following attendance category codes identify unplanned A&E attendances:1 = First A&E attendance3 = Follow-up A&E attendance – unplanned9 = Not known2Attendance disposal 01 = Admitted to hospital bed / become a lodged patient of the same health care provider.3A&E Diagnosis - The recording of the diagnosis field within the A&E data set is not mandatory. It is not known to what extent changes over time are as a result of improvements in recording practice.04 = Head injury4HES figures are available from 2007-08 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care. Note that HES include activity ending in the year in question and run from April to March, e.g. 2012-13 includes activity occurring between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013.

Pharmacy: Greater Manchester

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in spending on community pharmacies on the number of such pharmacies in Greater Manchester.

Steve Brine: Following the implementation of the reforms, access to pharmaceutical services remains good with 88% of the population within a 20 minutes’ walk of a community pharmacy. The number of community pharmacies remains similar to pre-December 2016 levels. In Greater Manchester there are currently 710 community pharmacies with 32 protected under the new Pharmacy Access Scheme (PhAS) from the full effect of the funding cuts. The PhAS supports pharmacies in areas where there are fewer pharmacies. The Department is monitoring pharmacy numbers to assess the effect of the community pharmacy reforms.

Cancer

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to NHS England's cancer strategy implementation plan, what (a) funding and (b) resources he has allocated to support the roll-out of the recovery package and stratified follow up pathways.

Steve Brine: Over the next two years, funding will be provided as part of a £200 million investment to encourage local areas to find new and innovative ways to diagnose cancer earlier, improve the care for those living with cancer and ensure each cancer patient gets the right care for them. This will include supporting Cancer Alliances to roll out the Recovery Package and personalised follow up (stratified) pathways.

Health: Costs

Preet Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps are being taken to address the financial cost to society of (a) alcohol misuse, (b) obesity and (c) viral hepatitis.

Steve Brine: The Government wants everyone to be able to make healthier choices, regardless of their circumstances, and to minimise the risk and impact of illness. A range of action is being taken to do this and in particular on the three areas identified: - To tackle alcohol misuse we are preventing below cost selling, tightening the rules on irresponsible promotions and introducing new powers to deal with anti-social behaviour. Local authorities are supported by Public Health England in the commissioning of high quality, evidence based treatment services for their local population’s needs.- In addition, the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers have produced new low risk drinking guidelines which provide the public with the latest information about the health risks of different levels and patterns of drinking. The guidelines enable people to make informed choices about their drinking.- Tackling childhood obesity is a priority for this Government. We launched “Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action” in August 2016. Our world-leading plan will help children and families to recognise and make healthier choices and be more active. Many of the key commitments in our plan will have an impact on tackling obesity across all age groups. These include the soft drinks industry levy and sugar reduction programme, which will reduce the amount of sugar we all consume.- A copy of “Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action” is available at: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/546588/Childhood_obesity_2016__2__acc.pdf- The National Strategic Group on Viral Hepatitis is a Public Health England supported, cross-agency expert group on viral hepatitis with external membership from academia, NHS England, local government, clinical commissioning groups, patient representative groups and other organisations, to provide strategic direction and advice around viral hepatitis. The strategy group aims to help reduce the incidence, prevalence and consequences of infection from the viral hepatitis in England.

Neuromuscular Disorders

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on its continuing to provide neuromuscular care advisor support.

Steve Brine: The Department has not had any discussions with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on this issue. However, NHS England has stated that there are no plans to change the provision of neuromuscular care advisor support at the Trust and Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group has advised that they are not aware of any changes to the provision of neuromuscular care advisor support in the area.

Health Services: British Nationals Abroad

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the potential cost of providing (a) NHS services and (b) social care to UK pensioners who are currently resident in an EU member state and who decide to return to the UK after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Philip Dunne: During negotiations with the European Union on the Withdrawal Agreement, the United Kingdom has been seeking to protect the healthcare arrangements currently set out in EU Regulations 883/2004 and 987/2009. In the recent negotiating rounds, the UK has agreed with the EU to protect reciprocal healthcare rights for UK nationals who are resident in another member state on EU Exit Day. This includes individuals who are of UK state pension age, and those who are not yet at state pension age, once they start drawing their UK state pension. The agreement also applies to many others who have previously worked in the EU, irrespective of where they are living on EU Exit Day. The Department is undertaking some modelling work to assess and understand how the UK health and social care sector would be impacted by a number of returning migrants. We also engage with our Embassies in EU Member States, which provides us with useful information about the concerns of UK state pensioners and other groups as the UK prepares to leave the EU.

European Medicines Agency: Location

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the relocation of the European Medicines Agency on clinical trials and access to medicine in the UK.

Steve Brine: As part of the European Union exit negotiations, the Government will discuss with the EU and Member States how best to continue cooperation in the field of access to medicines and clinical trials. The United Kingdom is committed to collaborating with the European Medicines Agency following the UK’s departure from the EU. While we cannot pre-judge the outcome of the negotiations, our aim is to ensure that patients in the UK and across the EU will continue to be able to access the best and most innovative medicines and be assured that their safety is protected through the strongest regulatory framework and sharing of data. The UK is also committed to offering a competitive service for clinical trial assessment. This covers regulatory approval from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency as well as services from the Health Research Authority, and related ethics service, National Institute for Health Research, and the National Health Service. The UK is working towards implementation of the new European Clinical Trials Regulation, whose application date will be set by the European Commission. The current regulatory approval legislation will stay in place until such time as any changes are needed so there will be no interruption in UK clinical trials approval.

Psychiatry: Students

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase the number of psychiatry students.

Jackie Doyle-Price: On 3 October 2017, the Higher Education Funding Council for England and Health Education England (HEE) invited universities to bid for 1,000 additional medical school places available from September 2019. The published criteria against which bids will be assessed include how proposals support specialities such as psychiatry. This is part of a historic expansion announced by my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health in October 2016 and includes an additional 500 places allocated for September 2018 entry. In ‘Stepping forward to 2020/21: A mental health workforce plan for England’, HEE sets out a plan to transform the mental health workforce, including a number of key actions to increase workforce supply. Current initiatives to improve recruitment into psychiatry training posts include increasing the number of training placements in psychiatry in the Foundation Programme and supporting the Royal College of Psychiatrists on its marketing campaign ‘Choose Psychiatry’.

Health Services: Foreign Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to assess the feasibility of implementing charging of overseas visitors in accident and emergency department services.

Mr Philip Dunne: No decision has yet been made on whether to extend charging to accident and emergency (A&E) services. In February 2017 the Government published its response to the consultation, Making a fair contribution, and committed to continue to consider the points raised by respondents around the feasibility of implementing charging in A&E services for overseas visitors and migrants. As such, the Department is working with arm’s length bodies and other stakeholders to assess the economic benefit, public health impact and practical feasibility of introducing charging for non-eligible overseas visitors in A&E departments. In addition, four National Health Service trusts have recently completed pilots to assess the feasibility of asking patients for identification in A&E departments, the results of which will be available in early 2018.

Hepatitis: Diagnosis

Preet Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps are being taken to improve detection of hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines are available to help raise awareness of, and testing for, hepatitis B and C infection in people at increased risk of infection. Screening for hepatitis B and C is recommended in groups who are at increased risk of infection so that diagnosed individuals can be referred for specialist care and management. NICE has also produced best practice guidance on hepatitis B antenatal screening and the new-born immunisation programme. The guidelines can be viewed here:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ph43NHS England commission the infectious diseases in pregnancy screening programme including the screening for hepatitis B, as of part of the maternity pathway, in addition and as part of health services commissioned for those in in the detained settings, NHS England is rolling out an ambitious Opt-Out Blood Borne Viruses (BBV) testing programme; the key aim is to improve uptake rates for hepatitis B and hepatitis C testing by the introduction of good practice for ‘meaningful offer’ of BBV testing across the adult prison estate by end of 2017-18.

Doctors: Vacancies

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the number of full-time equivalent consultant positions which are vacant in the NHS in England; and what proportion that number is of all consultant positions.

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many full-time equivalent registered nurse positions are vacant in the NHS in England; and what proportion that number is of all registered nurse positions.

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many full-time equivalent doctor positions are vacant in the NHS in England; and what that number is as a proportion of all doctor positions.

Mr Philip Dunne: The information is not available in the format requested. Health Education England (HEE) provides estimates of staff shortages and the plan for tackling these issues as part of their Workforce Plan for England publication. The latest figures are available at the following link:https://hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Workforce%20Plan%20for%20England%202016-17.pdfHEE plans to publish the Workforce Plan for England 2017/18 in due course. In addition, NHS Digital does publish the number of vacancies that are advertised on NHS Jobs, the dedicated online recruitment service for the National Health Service. However, as the basis of the figures is the number of vacancies advertised for the first time in each given month, it is not possible to determine from these figures the number of vacancies live at any given point in time. The figures only cover those vacancies advertised via NHS Jobs, and it is not always possible to determine how many posts are associated with any given advertisement. The latest figures are available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/media/31747/NHS-Vacancy-Statistics-England-February-2015-March-2017-Provisional-Experimental-Statistics-Tables/default/nhs-vac-stats-feb15-mar17-eng-tables

Organs: Donors

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2017 to Question 62727, how much his Department spent on organ donation (a) between 2010 and May 2015 and (b) since May 2015.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The table below sets out the total amount of funding for organ donation provided per year to NHS Blood and Transplant by the Department since 2010. 2009/102010/112011/122012/132013/142014/152015/162016/172017/18£ million£ million£ million£ million£ million£ million£ million£ million£ million51.455.254.352.8853.9555.0561.961.961.9

Care Homes

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to change the funding of care homes.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We will work to address the challenges of social care for our ageing population, bringing forward proposals for consultation to build widespread support. The consultation will set out options to improve the social care system and to put it on a more secure financial footing, supporting people, families and communities to prepare for old age, and address issues related to the quality of care and variation in practice. Further information on this will be made available shortly.

Hospital Beds

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2017 to Question 107800, on hospital beds, whether his Department has received requests for extra support to assist in reducing delays to the transfer of care from hospital trusts.

Mr Philip Dunne: While the Department works with NHS England and NHS Improvement to support hospitals and local government to reduce delayed transfers of care (DTOC) on an ongoing basis, we are not aware of specific requests for extra support. The Government has invested an additional £2 billion of funding in adult social care to support adult social care services and to help reduce pressures on the National Health Service including through reducing DTOC. Clear support mechanisms for local areas on DTOC have also been put in place and guidance has been provided on best practice in key areas, such as how to put in place ‘trusted assessor’ arrangements which can allow more efficient discharge from hospital by avoiding duplicative patient assessments by different organisations.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Written Questions

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to Questions 107373, 107372 and 107371 on cost of energy independent review, for what reasons his Department is not able to answer those Questions within the usual time period; and if he will answer those Questions before Professor Dieter Helm Cost of energy review is published.

Claire Perry: Holding answer received on 23 October 2017



The answers to questions 107373, 107372, and 107371, were published on 24 October 2017, and prior to the publication of the Cost of Energy Review on 25 October.

Nuclear Installations: Non-domestic Rates

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress the Government is making on enabling local authorities to retain business rates generated by new nuclear developments.

Richard Harrington: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the then Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change Michael Fallon on 17th July 2013, Official Report, Column 105-106WS:https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm130717/wmstext/130717m0001.htm#13071774000008In the first instance, authorities hosting new nuclear power stations would retain a share of the business rates that a power station pays once it begins generating electricity, up until the end of the decade in which the power station comes online. Thereafter, the remaining balance of the community benefit package would be paid directly by BEIS.We are working closely with colleagues in DCLG on the detailed business rates arrangements that will be in place for new nuclear communities, and will engage with the relevant local authorities to ensure their views and concerns are heard as we take forward work on the policy.

Nuclear Power Stations: Construction

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to his Department's announcement, Community benefits for sites that host new nuclear power stations, published on 17 July 2013, if he will publish the date from which communities will receive community benefit as a direct grant from his Department.

Richard Harrington: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the then Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change Michael Fallon on 17th July 2013, Official Report, Column 105-106WS:https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm130717/wmstext/130717m0001.htm#13071774000008The minister’s statement described how community benefit is to be paid delivered in two stages. Firstly, authorities hosting new nuclear power stations would retain a share of the business rates that a new nuclear plant pays once it begins generating electricity, up until the end of the decade in which the plant comes online. Thereafter, the remainder of the community benefit package would be paid directly by BEIS. For example, Hinkley Point C is scheduled to come online in 2025; direct payment from BEIS would therefore start in 2030.

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to encourage more energy suppliers to join the Warm Home Discount Scheme.

Claire Perry: Energy suppliers with 250,000 or more domestic customer accounts are obligated to participate in the Warm Home Discount scheme. For 2017/18 this covers 15 suppliers.Suppliers with less than 250,000 domestic customer accounts can apply to join the scheme voluntarily. Ofgem are responsible for approving applications from suppliers. To support a supplier’s decision to join the scheme voluntarily, Ofgem have published guidance on their website, which includes information about the application process and a supplier’s responsibilities when participating in the scheme: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/warm-home-discount-whdThere are three suppliers participating voluntarily in the Warm Home Discount scheme for 2017/18.The Department will consult on the operation of Warm Home Discount for 2018/19.

Companies: Ownership

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to provide for a register showing who owns and controls overseas legal entities that own UK property or participate in Government procurement.

Margot James: The responses to the call for evidence are currently being analysed and a response will be published in due course.

Coal: Mining

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to introduce a new regeneration strategy for coalfield communities.

Margot James: The Government is committed to helping every part of the country share in prosperity, unlocking investment in local areas and driving regeneration forward. In recent years, the Government has invested in supporting economic growth and prosperity in regions across the country, such as through City Deals and with the Local Growth Fund in England.The Government’s flagship Industrial Strategy has place at its heart. Driving growth across the whole of the UK by building on the strengths and opportunities of different places is central to its wider ambition of boosting productivity and earning power. To build an economy that works for all we must therefore help all our cities and towns to reach their full potential. Our varied approach will support places that are struggling as well as building on clusters of high productivity in different parts of the country. We will publish our Industrial Strategy White Paper later this year, setting out our plan for full and long-term delivery.The Government is developing the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, a programme of investment to reduce inequalities between communities and increase productivity across the UK, in line with our modern Industrial Strategy. The Government will work with the all devolved administrations at the earliest opportunity as a part of this process, in advance of a full public consultation. We welcome the input of all stakeholders in this process, and encourage communities to bring ambitious regeneration proposals forward.

Cost of Energy Independent Review

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answers of 24 October 2017 to Questions 107371, 107372 and 107373, on the Cost of Energy Independent Review, what steps he has taken to ensure that Professor Helm's business and investment interests do not represent a conflict of interest in relation to the cost of energy review; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2017 to Question 107372, on the Cost of Energy Independent Review, if he will publish the well-established principles for transparency and accountability for declarations of interest referred to in that Answer.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2017 to Question 107371, on the Cost of Energy Independent Review, whether officials of his Department who drafted the document entitled Professor Dieter Helm - declaration of interest had access to Professor Helm's personal financial records.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2017 to Question 107371, on the Cost of Energy Independent Review, what steps he has taken to assess the completeness and accuracy of the information set out in the document entitled Professor Dieter Helm - declaration of interest.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answers of 24 October 2017 to Questions 107371, 107372 and 107373, on the Cost of Energy Independent Review, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of restricting Professor Helm from (a) advising companies working in the UK energy sector and (b) altering any financial interests he might have in companies working in the UK energy sector until after Ministerial decisions informed by the cost of energy review have been implemented; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the document, entitled Professor Dieter Helm - declaration of interest, published by his Department on 6 August 2017 in relation to the cost of energy review, if he will list any financial interests Professor Helm might have in companies that are active in the UK energy sector.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answers of 24 October 2017 to Questions 107371, 107372 and 107373, on the Cost of Energy Independent Review, whether he is satisfied that Professor Helm has fully disclosed his interests in relation to energy companies.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2017 to Question 107371, who drafted the document entitled Professor Dieter Helm - declaration of interest.

Claire Perry: The independent Cost of Energy Review was carried out by Professor Dieter Helm and published on 25 October. Professor Helm has been subject to the Nolan Principles of conduct in public life throughout the conduct of his review, and committed to not advise clients in the energy sector throughout, and to not make changes to relevant financial interests until fourteen days after he submitted the report. All evidence shared by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) with Professor Helm is in the public domain. BEIS does not hold non-public information on any of Professor Helm’s financial interests. This was an independent review. The Government will consider Professor Helm’s recommendations and will shortly be seeking the views of industry, academics, businesses and consumer groups on the review. Given the long-term nature of the issues considered in the review, and the steps set out above, it would not be proportionate to restrict Professor Helm’s future activities.

Energy: Prices

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent progress he has made to simplify the number of tariffs offered by energy companies.

Margot James: The Competition and Markets Authority recommended in their 2016 report that Ofgem remove the simpler tariff rules. These rules banned suppliers from offering complex tariffs and capped the number of tariffs which they could offer. Ofgem have now introduced new rules governing the information about tariffs which suppliers can give to their domestic customers in their sales and marketing activities, including a requirement that they should be easily comparable. Government supports this approach.

Renewable Energy

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to provide the full £557 million allocated for future Contract for Difference auctions.

Richard Harrington: On 11 October Government confirmed that up to £557 million would be made available for Contracts for Difference auctions for new generation projects using less established renewable technologies. Government also confirmed that the next Contracts for Difference auction is planned for spring 2019. No decisions have yet been made regarding the timing of subsequent auctions, or the budget that will be made available in any particular auction.

Renewable Energy

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of setting a lower cap than £557 million on the funds allocated for future Contracts for Difference auctions.

Richard Harrington: On 11 October Government confirmed that up to £557 million would be made available for Contracts for Difference auctions for new generation projects using less established renewable technologies. No decisions have yet been made regarding the budget that will be made available in any particular auction.

Social Services: Minimum Wage

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October 2017 to Question 109148, on social services: minimum wage, which of the criteria for naming were not met by the employer with identified arrears of over £1 million.

Margot James: The case for the employer with identified arrears of over £1 million was opened by HM Revenue and Customs before the revised scheme came into effect on 1 October 2013. This employer failed to meet any of the set criteria for naming under the previous scheme.

Mining: Regeneration

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding his Department has allocated for regeneration of coalfield communities in each of the last five years.

Margot James: We do not hold the information requested. However, the Government believes it is the role of local communities themselves to determine investment in regeneration and economic growth, which is why we have empowered them to take decisions over investment in their local economies. We are committed to helping every part of the country share in prosperity, through a place-based approach to growth. As the three devolution settlements devolved responsibility for economic development, the Government has supported local economic growth and regeneration directly in England. This includes investment in coalfields communities through the Coalfield Regeneration Trust, which supported the Trust to become a self-financing organisation and operate independently of government investment. Further investment in growth and regeneration has come from the £12 billion Local Growth Fund. This money is designed to support local economies across all of England between 2015 and 2021 through Local Enterprise Partnerships, organisations which have been created to define the economic priorities of their areas and invest funding accordingly. It is our ambition to continue empowering places to use local expertise and set their own priorities to drive economic growth. This is why our modern Industrial Strategy has place at its heart, and will ensure local communities across the country have the tools to recognise and deliver a varied approach to support places that are struggling as well as building on areas of high productivity. The manifesto set out that that the Government will develop the United Kingdom Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), a domestic programme of investment that will reduce inequalities between communities and increase productivity across the UK. This will continue to provide places with the ability to support local economic growth across the country.

Mining: Regeneration

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to increase financial assistance for the regeneration of coalfield communities.

Margot James: The Government believes that local places themselves should be empowered to deliver the right investments to support economic growth and regeneration in their communities. In England, Local Enterprise Partnerships have had crucial roles in administering all funding for local economic development and regeneration. The nature of economic development in the other three nations of the UK, however, is a matter for the devolved administrations.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Languages

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people there are with foreign language skills in the (a) Army and (b) Royal Air Force; and in which such languages those people are skilled.

Mark Lancaster: There are approximately 850 Service personnel across the Ministry of Defence (MOD) trained in some 40 different languages. It is not possible to provide a detailed breakdown because of the strategic and operational sensitivities surrounding them. The MOD's language requirements are met from a Departmental pool of Armed Forces and civilian personnel; the Department regularly reviews its future requirements for linguists and trains its personnel accordingly.

Air Force: Languages

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to improve foreign language skills within the Royal Air Force.

Mark Lancaster: A range of measures is taken to actively promote the opportunities which the RAF can offer to individuals who have foreign language skills. These include Specialist Recruitment Teams attending academies and universities; running a bursary scheme for RAF linguist undergraduates; awarding a monetary incentive where a recruit has a pre-existing language of interest. Additionally, serving personnel may be eligible for financial awards for maintaining and utilising specialist language skills. In accordance with RAF policy for all personnel, linguists must serve at least 36 months after the completion of professional language training.

Army: Languages

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that foreign language experts in the Army are available within each regiment and brigade.

Mark Lancaster: Foreign language expertise and training within the Army is prioritised based on role and requirement. Priority is focused on the Specialised Infantry group (announced in Strategic Defence Security Review 15) and Brigades with an operational defence engagement requirement. At present, there are over 12,000 Army personnel recorded as holding language qualifications.The Army is currently considering low-level (and higher level) language and cultural capability, as part of wider land environment defence engagement doctrine.

Armed Forces: Children

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has undertaken a risk assessment under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 for people under the age of 18 in the armed forces.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The duty of care arrangements that the Department has in place for people under the age of 18 provides them with a safe environment to work in. The Ministry of Defence provides guidance in the form of Joint Service Publications (JSP) to Commanding Officers concerning our duty of care responsibilities for risk assessments for people under the age of 18.JSP 375 "Management of Health and Safety in Defence", of which Part 2, Volume 1 Chapter 19 - "Young Persons", defines the broad policy with reference to legal requirements regarding employment of young persons.JSP 822 "Defence Direction and Guidance for Training and Education" instructs Commanding Officers of Phase 1 and 2 training schools to establish effective supervisory care regimes that are underpinned by risk assessments.Both of these policy documents are in the public domain and can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/488834/20160101-375_2016_P2_Vol1_Chapter_19_V1-0_Young_Persons.pdfhttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jsp-822-governance-and-management-of-defence-individual-training-education-and-skills

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether British companies will be permitted to enter a competition to supply the future Mechanised Infantry Vehicle.

Harriett Baldwin: No decision has been taken on the acquisition strategy for the Mechanised Infantry Vehicle and at this stage our approach remains competitive procurement within the supply chain wherever possible.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect on (a) long-term investment in the UK Armoured Fighting Vehicle industry and (b) value for money for UK taxpayers of decisions to acquire such vehicles, without competition, under the Foreign Military Sales procedure; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: The Ministry of Defence has committed to spending over £178 billion on equipment and equipment support for the Armed Forces between 2016 and 2026, which will provide our Armed Forces with the equipment they need to deliver the levels of military capability set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015. This includes military vehicles, and as our approach remains competitive procurement within the supply chain where possible, UK companies can secure business at the prime and sub-contractor level, unless the value for money case proves that other routes such as Foreign Military Sales provide a better deal for UK taxpayers.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) advantages and (b) disadvantages are of allowing UK industry to bid for Armoured Fighting Vehicle acquisition projects.

Harriett Baldwin: The Ministry of Defence advocates the use of competition wherever appropriate both in our direct contracts and throughout the supply chain, and welcomes bids from UK industry.

RFA Tidesurge

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) staff of his Department and (b) members of the UK armed forces were in attendance at the naming ceremony for RFA Tidesurge at DSME Shipyard in Okpo, South Korea on 1 September 2017.

Harriett Baldwin: Of the 19 staff who attended the naming ceremony for Royal Fleet Auxiliary TIDESURGE on 29 August 2017, 13 were members of the UK Armed Forces and six were Ministry of Defence civilian staff. The date aligned with a routine project meeting.

Navy

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the designated Fleet Ready Escort was on each day between 14 and 23 October 2017.

Mark Lancaster: I can confirm that for the period between 14 and 23 October 2017 HMS ST ALBANS was the designated Fleet Ready Escort.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's policy is on tackling unauthorised traveller encampments on his Department's land.

Mark Lancaster: Ministry of Defence policy on unauthorised encampments is that the Department will always take appropriate action to recover possession of its land.

Poaching

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what training and assistance the UK armed forces are providing to support anti-poaching patrols in other countries.

Mark Lancaster: A team of seven UK Armed Forces personnel have been providing training and mentoring to African Parks rangers since August in Liwonde National Park, Malawi.In November a short term training team of 11 UK Armed Forces personnel will travel to Gabon, to train up to 60 rangers from the Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux in counter-poaching patrolling skills.

Warships: Procurement

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made on procuring fleet support ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: The programme to deliver the Fleet Solid Support ships entered the Assessment Phase in April 2016. Current activity is focused on developing the technical specification for the ships and confirmation of the vessels' capability requirements.

Shipbuilding: Warships

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many meetings have taken place between trades union representatives and his Department on the national shipbuilding strategy; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: Following on from Sir John Parker's trade union engagement prior to publishing his independent report, we have continued to keep the trade unions involved. Representatives from the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions (CSEU) and GMB have attended Industry stakeholder events in relation to the National Shipbuilding Strategy. We also undertook a briefing on the strategy followed by a question and answer session at the CSEU Maritime Forum on 13 February 2017. We will continue to engage with the trade unions as we implement the strategy.

Warships: Procurement

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what criteria are used to establish whether a contract for naval ships should be advertised and such ships procured by  international rather than national competition; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: As set out in the National Shipbuilding Strategy, future procurement of ships by the Ministry of Defence will be by competition.All Royal Navy warships (destroyers, frigates and aircraft carriers) will continue to have a UK-owned design, and will be built and integrated in the UK. Warship build will be via competition between UK shipyards.All other naval ships should be subject to open competition, provided that there are no compelling national security reasons to constrain a particular procurement to national providers. Integration of sensitive UK-specific systems will be done in the UK, where possible after competition between UK providers.

Defence: Procurement

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to ensure that UK defence procurement supports UK industrial growth; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: The Ministry of Defence is committed to helping the UK defence sector grow and compete successfully; our expenditure with UK industry and commerce was £18.7 billion in 2015-16 and directly supports over 121,000 jobs in every nation and region of the United Kingdom. We will shortly publish our refreshed defence industrial policy which will set out the further steps we are taking to achieve our national security objectives in defence procurement, including to promote prosperity.

Defence: Procurement

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to ensure that UK defence procurement promotes inward investment.

Harriett Baldwin: The Ministry of Defence welcomes inward investment in the UK supply chain, and works closely with colleagues in Government and with key international suppliers to encourage this. Since 2012, we have seen £3.2 billion of inward investment in the UK defence sector.

Defence: Procurement

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of current UK defence procurement plans in protecting and maintaining sovereign defence capabilities.

Harriett Baldwin: The Ministry of Defence has measures in place to identify and, where necessary, take action to protect those aspects of capability which are essential to the UK's freedom of action and operational advantage on national security grounds. We are adopting a more vigilant and systematic approach to implementing this, notably in relation to industry's supply chains.

Defence: Procurement

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to ensure that UK defence procurements sustain the UK aerospace industry.

Harriett Baldwin: As we consider our future requirements, the Ministry of Defence is analysing aspects of the UK military aerospace sector with other Government Departments and UK industry to understand longer-term options for international partnering, industry's appetite to invest, adjacent civil investment and overall affordability.

Defence and Aerospace Industry: North West

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made on its assessment of the implications for defence and aerospace manufacturing capability in the North West of the UK leaving the EU; and what the timetable is for completion of that assessment.

Harriett Baldwin: The North West of the UK has a strong defence and aerospace manufacturing capability, including for the Eurofighter Typhoon and the F-35 Lightning II. Neither programme is affected by the UK leaving the EU, as they are governed by other arrangements.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Letting Agents

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's call for evidence of 18 October 2017, on protecting consumers in the letting and managing agent market, what meetings he and Ministers in his Department have had with industry bodies on the letting and management industry since 1 January 2017.

Alok Sharma: My officials and I meet regularly with letting and managing agents and their representatives, including the Residential Landlords Association (RLA), the National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS) and the Association of Residential Managing Agents (ARMA). A full list of all ministerial meetings with external bodies on departmental business is publicly available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dclg-ministerial-data/.

Letting Agents: Fees and Charges

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's call for evidence of 18 October 2017, on protecting consumers in the letting and managing agent market, when he plans for legislative proposals to be (a) introduced and (b) come into force to ban letting agent fees.

Alok Sharma: We will be publishing our response to the consultation and the Tenant Fees Bill shortly. We will provide more information on the implementation timetable following scrutiny of the draft Bill.

Private Rented Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's call for evidence of 18 October 2017 on protecting consumers in the letting and managing agent market, when he plans for legislative proposals on such protection to (a) be introduced and (b) take effect.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's call for evidence of 18 October 2017 on protecting consumers in the letting and managing agent market, what the average reduction in service charges will be for leaseholders in the event that the proposals in that call for evidence are brought into force.

Alok Sharma: The call for evidence closes on 29 November 2017. We will use the evidence received through this exercise to help shape proposals, including legislative proposals where necessary and will provide further details in due course.

Letting Agents

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the publication Protecting consumers in the letting and managing agent market: call for evidence, how many letting and management agents operate in England.

Alok Sharma: The information requested is not held centrally.As we made clear in the publication referred to by the Rt Hon Member for Wentworth and Dearne, lettings and management agents do not have to be registered. There is therefore no official Government figure of the number of these agents that exist.

Temporary Accommodation: Greater London

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of households in the London Borough of (a) Lewisham and (b) Bromley who have been living in temporary accommodation for more than six months.

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people presented as homeless in the London Borough of (a) Lewisham and (b) Bromley in each month of the last three years.

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of recent trends in homelessness; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones: Time spent in temporary accommodation means people are getting help and it ensures no family is without a roof over their head.We are implementing the most ambitious legislative reform in decades, the Homelessness Reduction Act, in April 2018, which will ensure that more people get the help they need earlier to prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place.DCLG publishes regular statistics on rough sleeping, statutory homelessness and homelessness prevention and relief in England. These are published at a local authority level. The latest statistics can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics.We are remodelling the statutory homelessness data collection alongside the introduction of the Homelessness Reduction Act to give us better insights into the causes of homelessness and the support people need.

Planning Permission

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether it is his policy to support the use of binding local referenda for major planning decisions.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 26 October 2017



It is important that local communities have the opportunity to comment on any applications for new development which come forward in their area. That is why the planning system already provides statutory rights for communities to become involved in the preparation of the Local Plan and neighbourhood plans for the area, and to make representations on individual planning applications, and on planning appeals. Local planning authorities are also required by statute to take into account all representations made in relation to an application for planning permission.However, in reaching a decision on whether to grant planning permission only material planning considerations may be taken into account by the local planning authority. Local opposition or support is not in itself a ground for refusing or granting planning permission, unless it is founded on valid planning reasons.Under a plan-led system, all planning applications submitted to a local planning authority must be determined, on their own merits, in accordance with the local development plan for the area, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Given these long standing and robust processes are already in place, we do not support the use of binding local referenda for major planning decisions.

Affordable Housing: North of England

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many affordable homes have been built in (a) the North of England, (b) Bolton and (c) Wigan in each year since May 2010.

Alok Sharma: Figures on the number of additional affordable homes supplied are available in live table 1008C: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply

Empty Property: North of England

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of empty homes in (a) the North of England, (b) Bolton and (c) Wigan.

Alok Sharma: Figures on the numbers of empty homes are available in live table 615: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants

Letting Agents

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's call for evidence on protecting consumers in the letting and managing agent market, published in October 2017, for what reasons extending rights to freeholders was not included in that publication.

Alok Sharma: My Department's consultation ‘Tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market’, which closed on 19 September, sought views on whether the Government should promote solutions to provide freeholders equivalent rights to leaseholders, to challenge the suitability of service charges for the maintenance of communal areas and facilities on a private estate. The Government will respond in due course.

Grenfell Tower: Fires

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the specific cause of the fire at Grenfell Tower has been identified; and what that cause was.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 30 October 2017



According to the Metropolitan Police, a Hotpoint fridge freezer has been identified as the initial source of the Grenfell Tower fire. Advice for members of the public who are concerned about risk from their fridge freezer is available on the Government’s Product Recall website:https://productrecall.campaign.gov.ukThe Grenfell Tower Inquiry, set up by the Prime Minister, is examining the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the fire at Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017. Sir Martin Moore Bick, the Chairman of the independent inquiry, hopes to provide the Prime Minister with a first report by early April next year. This report will include the development of the fire; where and how it started, how it spread and the chain of events before it was extinguished.

Fire Prevention: Inspections

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has received any representations from fire authorities on the frequency of fire warden visits in a local authority.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his oral contribution of 5 September 2017, Official Report, column 76, on Grenfell Tower, if he will publish details of the local authorities that have contacted his Department on funding for remedial work.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Scotland Office

Whisky: Scotland

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people employed (a) directly, (b) in the supply chain and (c) in the tourism industry as a result of the Scottish whisky industry.

David Mundell: The Scottish whisky industry makes a significant contribution to employment in Scotland and the wider UK. The latest Scotch Whisky Association GVA figures (2014-2016) show that the industry directly supports employment of 10,540 and a further 21,860 jobs in the supply chain. The industry also contributes to the wider Scottish tourism sector.

Whisky: Scotland

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what estimate he has made of the economic contribution of the Scotch whisky industry to the (a) Scottish and (b) UK economy.

David Mundell: The Scotch whisky industry makes a valuable contribution to both the Scottish and the overall UK economies. The latest Scotch Whisky Association GVA figures (2014-2016) show that Scotch whisky contributes £4.7 billion per annum to the Scottish economy and £4.9 billion to the UK economy as a whole.

Whisky: Scotland

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs that are supported by the Scotch whisky industry in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK.

David Mundell: The Scotch whisky industry is a valuable contributor to employment in Scotland and across the UK. The latest Scotch Whisky Association GVA figures (2014-2016) show that the industry supports 36,850 jobs across Scotland and 40,190 across the UK as a whole.

Fossil Fuels: Scotland

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, with reference to sections 47 and 49 of the Scotland Act 2016, what the timetable is for the transfer of powers to issue licences to search and bore for any mineral oil or relative hydrocarbon and natural gas.

David Mundell: The UK Government is committed to implementing all sections of the Scotland Act in full, and that includes commencing the sections in the Scotland Act 2016 regarding powers to issue licences to search and bore for mineral oil or relative hydrocarbon and natural gas. Work is continuing to bring remaining sections of the Act into force in a sensible and managed way. The Scotland Office and the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy are working with the Scottish Government on consequential amendments to ensure the smooth transfer of these powers. The affirmative Statutory Instrument was laid in July and we are awaiting debate time, with the aim of commencing the powers set out in sections 47 and 49 as soon as possible, subject to parliamentary timing.

Sheep Meat: Scotland

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for International Trade on the inclusion of intellectual property right protections for Scottish lamb in a trade deal with the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on the inclusion of intellectual property right protections for Scottish farmed salmon in a trade deal with the EU after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on the inclusion of intellectual property right protections for Scottish wild salmon in a trade deal with the EU after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on the inclusion of intellectual property right protections for Scottish beef in a trade deal with the EU after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on the inclusion of intellectual property right protections for Traditional Ayrshire Dunlop cheese in a trade deal with the EU after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on the inclusion of intellectual property right protections for Orkney Scottish Island Cheddar in a trade deal with the EU after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for International Trade on the inclusion of intellectual property right protections for Orkney lamb in a trade deal with the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for International Trade on the inclusion of intellectual property right protections for Orkney beef in a trade deal with the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on the protection of intellectual property rights for Scotch whisky in any trade deal with the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

David Mundell: I meet regularly with Cabinet colleagues and discuss a wide range of matters. Geographical indications are important to our reputation as a great food nation. As we leave the EU, the UK will continue to abide by WTO rules on the protection of geographical indications globally, and we will prioritise continued protection of the best of our UK food and drink as we consider future trade opportunities across the world. Countries outside the EU are already able to participate in the EU's geographical indication schemes when selling onto the EU market. In addition, the EU rules that currently govern the enforcement of geographical indications will be placed on a UK legal basis through the EU Withdrawal Bill.

Scotland Office: EU Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many non-UK EU nationals work in his Department.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office does not employ staff directly. Details of the nationality of staff working in the Scotland Office are retained by the parent department.

Department for International Trade

Trade Agreements: USA

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2017 to Question 107255, on the UK-US Trade and Investment Working Group, what the implications of the difficulties experienced by Bombardier in trading with the US are for maintaining commercial continuity when the UK leaves the EU.

Greg Hands: WTO rules provide that members can establish a trade remedies framework and undertake investigations into alleged dumping or subsidisation of imports. To operate an independent trade policy, we will need to put in place a trade remedies framework. As an important part of a rounded trade policy, after our exit from the EU, our trade remedies framework will protect domestic industry against unfair and injurious trade practices.The US and UK are strong partners and allies. The US is the UK’s largest single trading partner and as such, our joint relationship is a crucial part of our economy and the US-UK economic relationship is crucially important.The UK Government has maintained that Boeing’s complaint to the US Department of Commerce is unjustified, and we will continue to strongly defend our case.

EU External Trade: China

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what his policy is on market economic status for China within the EU for (a) steel and (b) other commodities.

Greg Hands: As a member of the EU, the UK has supported the Commission’s proposal to revise its anti-dumping methodology, while clearly advocating that any amendments to the regulations must be applied in a way which is WTO compliant. Any changes to the EU’s methodology must be fair, balanced and compatible with WTO requirements.On leaving the EU, we will operate our own trade policy. We will develop a WTO compliant trade remedies regime that will enable us to tackle significant market distortions. Our regime will provide UK industries, including steel, with protection against unfair and injurious trade practices.

Women and Equalities

LGBT People: Public Sector

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what progress the Government is making towards its goal of seeking the views of LGBT people in the UK on public services.

Nick Gibb: We launched a national survey on 23 July to ask lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people living in the UK about their experiences of using public services, and about any experiences of discrimination that they may have faced throughout their lives. The survey closed on 15 October. We received more than 100,000 responses, making this one of the largest ever surveys of LGBT people in the world. We will analyse the results and use them to inform the Government’s policy on LGBT equality. We will publish our findings when this analysis has been completed.

Department for Transport

Railways: Procurement

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will set out all the rail projects that Network Rail has (a) agreed in principle or (b) contracted in the last 12 months that have been jointly funded with the private sector.

Paul Maynard: We continue to explore all opportunities for private sector funding, including in rail schemes such as East West Rail and Crossrail 2.

Railways

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish any report his Department commissioned on railways from First Class Partnerships; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Maynard: The Department has commissioned a number of reports from First Class Partnerships on a variety of issues. Publication of any individual report will be considered in due course.

Heathrow Airport

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government plans to provide financial support to ensure that the expansion of Heathrow Airport results in an increase in the number of domestic routes.

Mr John Hayes: The preferred expansion of Heathrow Airport will provide strong commercial opportunities to attract airlines to provide more and better routes to the nations and regions of the UK. The Government will take all necessary steps, including – where appropriate – ring-fencing new slots under Public Service Obligations (PSOs), to deliver enhanced connectivity within the UK.

Rolling Stock: North of England

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for the replacement of Pacer carriages covering local services with modern rolling stock on rail services in the North of England.

Paul Maynard: The Department recognises that Pacers fall short of passengers’ expectations and so required bidders for the Northern franchise to phase them out. Arriva Rail North are investing £400 million in 281 brand new air-conditioned carriages, more than double the minimum required in the government’s invitation to tender, and remain on track to deliver the complete removal of the outdated and unpopular Pacers by the end of 2019 at the latest.

Midland Main Railway Line: Carbon Emissions

Jared O'Mara: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the level of carbon emissions that will be caused by diesel bi-mode trains compared to electric trains on the Midland Mainline.

Paul Maynard: Passengers expect high quality rail services and we are committed to electrification where it delivers passenger benefits and good value for money for taxpayers, but we will also take advantage of state of the art new technology to improve journeys. In line with the Department for Transport’s processes for appraising transport investments, an economic appraisal including the environmental impacts has been carried out using the DfT’s Transport Analysis Guidance, incorporating DEFRA guidance on transport related environmental impacts. Using this methodology, benefits from reduced greenhouse gas emissions are assessed over a 60 year appraisal period. We expect the new bi-mode trains to deliver an overall better environmental performance than the existing diesel trains on this route and so contribute to further improving this record.

Midland Main Railway Line: Rolling Stock

Jared O'Mara: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the estimated cost is of the purchase and running of diesel bi-mode trains on the Midland Mainline.

Paul Maynard: We are unable to provide the requested information as we are going through the process of a live franchise competition. This information is commercially sensitive and releasing it would compromise our ability to deliver the best value option from the franchise bidders.

Railways: Wales

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to reduce levels of overcrowding on railways in Wales.

Paul Maynard: Passengers are benefitting from new Intercity Express trains on Great Western services, delivering faster journey times and improved connectivity between South Wales and London. 40% more seats will be provided in the morning peak once the full fleet is in service. Any issues relating to Wales & Borders services is a matter for the Welsh Government.

Road Signs and Markings

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to enforce removal of temporary road signs which have remained in place beyond the maximum permitted period of three months.

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to reduce the number of unnecessary road signs.

Jesse Norman: I refer my Honourable Friend to my answer of 26 October 2017 (UIN 109452 and 109454).

South West Railway Line: Overcrowding

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to reduce overcrowding on the South West Mainline into London Waterloo.

Paul Maynard: The newly let South Western Railway franchise will oversee a £1.2 billion investment that will improve journeys for millions of train passengers, and provide a boost for the communities served. This franchise will see the following mainline improvements:more space for passengers including a:o 35% increase morning peak capacity into London Waterlooo 41% increase evening peak capacity out of London Waterloo35 additional services each weekday and Saturday between Portsmouth & Southsea and London Waterloomore Sunday services across the Main Line, with the equivalent of a weekday service after 1:00pmfaster journeys to London with trains being:o 8 minutes faster from Southampton Centralo 9 minutes faster from Bournemoutho 14 minutes faster from Weymoutho 5 minutes faster from Portsmoutho 11 minutes faster from Salisburycomfortable 2 plus 2 seating on all Portsmouth fast trains to London

British Transport Police: Airwave Service

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether rail operators will contribute to the airwave replacement programme for British Transport Police.

Paul Maynard: We expect the costs of the Airwave replacement programme for the British Transport Police to be reflected in the policing charges levied on the rail operators by the British Transport Police Authority. The position will be kept under review.

Road Works: Speed Limits

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the safety implications of raising the 50 mph limit through road works on the motorway network to 60 mph.

Jesse Norman: Highways England undertook a risk assessment of the concept of 60mph in roadworks, and has trialed it at several sites. Each site had a specific risk assessment before the trial started.

Road Works: Casualties

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people working on the motorway network have been killed or seriously injured in road traffic incidents in each year since 2010.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many reportable health and safety incidents involving people working on the motorway network have been recorded in each year since 2010.

Jesse Norman: Safety is a core priority for Highways England and the AFR (Accident Frequency Rate) has reduced within their supply chain by a half over the last 2 years and is now at 0.09. Highways England’s supply chain working on construction and maintenance activities have reported the following numbers of incidents on the motorway and trunk road network in accordance with RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations) in each year since 2010, up to end of September 2017. These totals include those contractors killed and injured in road traffic incidents. Count of IncidentsIncident TypeDateRIDDOR - FatalityRIDDOR - Specified InjuryRIDDOR >7 daysRIDDOR >3 daysGrand Total201062904984201101404761201211811114120130181203020140182304120152232204720161211804020170516021Grand Total10146102107365

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Thailand: Foreign Relations

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to increase tourism links and economic ties with Thailand.

Mark Field: Economic ties between the United Kingdom and Thailand are already strong – bilateral trade in 2016 accounted for over £5 billion. The FCO works with the Department for International Trade and Thai counterparts to encourage deeper economic ties, including through engagement on high value opportunities, improving the conditions for business, and supporting the Thailand UK Business Leadership Council established in 2016.Tourism between the UK and Thailand is high – we are pleased that over 1 million British nationals visit Thailand every year. Whilst the FCO does not focus directly on increasing tourism from the UK to Thailand, our Embassy in Bangkok is working to raise awareness in Thailand of the UK as a dynamic and innovative destination for business, study and tourism.

Nigeria: Ethnic Groups

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans he has to make representations to the Nigerian Government on withdrawing the eviction notices served on the Igbo people.

Rory Stewart: We welcome the swift and widespread condemnation by the Nigerian Government of calls for Igbo residents to be evicted from parts of Northern Nigeria. We welcome in particular the swift condemnation by the Governors of the Northern states and then Acting President Osinbajo. During my visit to Nigeria in June I discussed community tensions in Nigeria with the Governor of Kaduna. We echo President Buhari's recent call for calm and reconciliation between the many ethnic groups and communities that make up and contribute to the strength and diversity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.I welcome the fact that the Northern Nigerian Youth Groups have subsequently rescinded their call for Igbos to be evicted. We continue to monitor the situation closely, and will work with the Nigerian Government to help tackle threats to Nigeria's security and address the underlying causes of instability.

Yemen: Baha'i Faith

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support freedom of religion for the Baha'i community in Yemen.

Alistair Burt: We are concerned that the Baha'is are being persecuted for their religious beliefs in Yemen, particularly in areas controlled by the Houthis and forces aligned to former President Saleh. We strongly condemn this mistreatment and continue to work closely with our partners including the EU to raise the issue directly with the de facto authorities. The immediate release of all Baha'is in Yemen imprisoned for their religious beliefs was a key demand in the September UN Human Rights Council Resolution, which we supported. We will work closely with all partners to ensure its implementation.

Yemen: Baha'i Faith

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the government of Yemen on the treatment of the Baha'i community in that country.

Alistair Burt: We have raised our concerns over the treatment of Baha'is with the Government of Yemen and sought to highlight their plight through public diplomacy. We continue to follow the treatment of the Baha'is in Yemen closely, including through meeting their representatives in the UK and lobbying the relevant authorities; and continue to call on the parties to the conflict for the human rights of all Yemenis to be respected.

Cyprus: Travel Information

Stephen Kerr: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what advice the Government provides on potential health risks of travel to Cyprus.

Sir Alan Duncan: The FCO's travel advice pages include links to both the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) and NHS (Scotland)'s websites. Travellers are encouraged to consult these pages before visiting Cyprus.

Marine Protected Areas: South Sandwich Islands

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department plans to include the South Sandwich Islands in the Government's plans for marine protection zones.

Sir Alan Duncan: In 2012 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands' entire marine environment was declared a sustainable-use Marine Protected Area combining over 20,000 square kilometres of no-fishing zones with areas where commercial fishing may continue under some of the strictest regulations in the world.

Gaza: Energy Supply

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Government of Israel on the decision made by the Israeli security cabinet of 11 June 2017 to reduce electricity supply to Gaza by 40 per cent.

Alistair Burt: The UK remains gravely concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. I saw the extent of the electricity crisis first hand when I visited on 21 August. We continue to believe that the best solution to the electricity crisis is a political agreement. The UK continues to encourage both the Israelis and the Palestinians to take urgent steps to improve energy provision and infrastructure in Gaza. We most recently raised the need to take action on Gaza with the Israeli authorities on 23 October.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Brexit

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department plans to spend on preparations for no deal being reached in negotiations on the UK leaving the EU.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Swaziland: Diplomatic Service

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many times the British High Commissioner in South Africa has visited Swaziland in the last 12 months; and on how many such occasions he has met with pro-democracy activists.

Rory Stewart: Former High Commissioner, Dame Judith Macgregor, made a farewell visit to Swaziland in March 2017, where she urged the need for further democratic reform with His Majesty King Mswati III. In addition, the Deputy High Commissioner to Swaziland visited three times between November 2016 and May 2017, each time meeting with civil society activists, as well as representatives from the Swaziland Democratic Party.

Commonwealth: Foreign Relations

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of private organisations in the (a) UK and (b) Commonwealth nations that campaign for improved political and economic relations between the UK and the Commonwealth nations.

Alistair Burt: The UK acknowledges the valuable role that the 86 Commonwealth accredited and associated organisations play in promoting Commonwealth values and principles and in fostering collaboration across the Commonwealth on a wide range of issues, including improved political and economic relations between member states. The Commonwealth Secretariat leads on the accreditation process for these organisations as well as evaluation of their activity.

Swaziland: Commonwealth

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of whether Swaziland has violated the Commonwealth Charter; and whether the Government plans to make representations to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group to review that country's status.

Rory Stewart: We regularly press the Swazi Government on the need for democratic reform and respect for human rights in line with the Commonwealth Charter. Furthermore, we remain committed to registering our concerns with respect to the right to freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association contained in the Swazi Constitution. We do not have any current plans to make representations to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group.

Mexico

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he last met his Mexican counterpart; and what was discussed at that meeting.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign Secretary and I met the Mexican Foreign Minister, Dr Luis Videgaray, on 19 October during his Guest of Government visit to the UK. We covered a variety of bilateral and multilateral issues, and agreed a joint communiqué, which was published on the gov.uk website.

Department for International Development

International Citizen Service

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what representations she has received from civil society organisations on the Government providing continued support to the International Citizen Service.

Alistair Burt: We have not received any formal representations from civil society organisations. However, my officials engage directly with the delivery consortium, programme alumni and beneficiaries on a regular basis.

International Citizen Service

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the International Citizen Service on educational outcomes in developing countries.

Alistair Burt: Education is one of the four key outcomes to which the International Citizen Service (ICS) contributes.A mid-term internal evaluation of the current scheme found that interventions have had a positive impact on both the provision of education services in developing countries, and access to these services for marginalised groups.

International Citizen Service

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans her Department has to fund the International Citizen Service programme in each of the next five financial years.

Alistair Burt: The current budget allocated to the International Citizen Service (ICS) programme in the next financial year (2018/19) stands at £9.2 million. However, the budget allocation to ICS in the years beyond 2018/19 has not yet been confirmed by the department.

Developing Countries: Education

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what percentage of UK humanitarian aid was spent on education in (a) 2012, (b) 2013, (c) 2014, (d) 2015 and (e) 2016.

Alistair Burt: UK humanitarian aid is classified using standards defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Development Assistance Committee (OECD DAC) so they can be comparable across the international donor community. These classifications cover five broad areas of humanitarian activity:Material relief, assistance and services (which includes Education)Emergency food aidRelief coordination, protection and supportReconstruction, relief and rehabilitationDisaster prevention and preparednessThe amount of UK humanitarian aid spent specifically on education is therefore not held centrally, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.The OECD DAC are currently finalising the 2017 updates to the humanitarian codes. This will include the introduction of a specific “Education in Emergencies” code, the adoption of which will allow for future monitoring of humanitarian spend on education.

Developing Countries: Poverty

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect on global poverty reduction of the increasing proportion of the UK aid budget spent by Departments not subject to the International Development Act 2002.

Rory Stewart: The UK Aid Strategy, published in November 2015 (CM 9163), is clear that the government shapes all of its ODA spending according to the four strategic objectives set out in the strategy. All four of these strategic objectives support poverty reduction and all are aligned with the UK national interest. The Aid Strategy also commits the UK to drive progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, which have the eradication of poverty as their central objective.In order to qualify as ODA, all expenditure must meet the eligibility criteria established by the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee.

Africa: Poaching

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding her Department provided for anti-poaching efforts in Africa in each of the last seven years.

Rory Stewart: The Department has supported efforts to address the illegal wildlife trade through funding of the Global Environment Facility and by providing funding to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs including for the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund. The Department for International Development’s funding to the Global Environment Facility was £35 million in 2010 and £52.5 million each year since then. £13 million was committed by the Department to tackle the Illegal Wildlife Trade in the period of 2014 to 2018, to be administered by Defra. We are unable to provide a breakdown of the proportion of this funding that was specifically targeted at anti-poaching efforts in Africa.

Humanitarian Aid

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of UK Aid's humanitarian funding has been allocated to local and national responders, to fulfil the UK's obligation to reach the global target of 25 per cent by 2020 as set out in the 2016 OECD World Humanitarian Summit's Grand Bargain.

Alistair Burt: The Grand Bargain commits aid organisations and donors to achieve by 2020 a global, aggregated target of at least 25 per cent of humanitarian funding to local and national responders as directly as possible. DFID does not currently capture the proportion of UK humanitarian funding that goes to such responders. However, the UK’s newly published Humanitarian Reform Policy outlines how national and local actors will be at the centre of DFID’s work. DFID is making progress on this, for example, through support to the Start Fund (£30 million 3 year programme agreed until 2018) that provides rapid support to humanitarian crises such as a landslide in Sierra Leone, flooding in Nepal and Bangladesh, and displacement in the Philippines caused by conflict in Mindanao. Start Fund report that 42% of projects in 2015/16 were implemented fully or partially by a local partner.

Department for International Development: Procurement

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans she has to regularly evaluate implementation of the Supply Partner Code of Conduct and to make such reports available to the public.

Rory Stewart: Supplier compliance with the new Supply Partner Code of Conduct will be enforced and monitoring will be led by a new dedicated, specialist compliance team in DFID’s Procurement and Commercial Department. As part of the Supplier Review reforms, we will publish annual league tables of supplier performance, available to the public from 2018. We will also provide annual information on DFID’s overall commercial performance.

Syria: Health Services

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to support, maintain and rebuild health facilities damaged in attacks in Syria.

Alistair Burt: UK aid continues to support vital health facilities in Syria that provide first aid, trauma care, and primary and reproductive health services. Where possible, DFID-funded partners are ensuring that health facilities can continue to operate by delivering medical supplies, maintaining water and electricity supplies, and replacing damaged equipment. We are providing training to health workers to help them to protect themselves, and their patients, and to mitigate damage from attacks (including chemical weapons attacks). Where facilities have been severely damaged, or safe access is not possible, we are funding mobile medical units.

Syria: Internally Displaced People

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to ensure the safety of internally displaced persons in Syria.

Alistair Burt: Following the liberation of Raqqa City, we are helping to clear landmines and explosives to enable those displaced to return to their homes there safely as soon as possible. However, for the majority of the estimated 6.3 million internally displaced people in Syria to return home safely there must be an end to the conflict, and a credible political settlement. In the meantime, the UK is providing food, healthcare, water and other life-saving relief to vulnerable Syrians, including internally displaced people, across the country.

Syria: Children

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps are being taken by UK aid agencies to support children with disabilities in Syria.

Alistair Burt: The UK’s humanitarian aid programme in Syria seeks to meet the needs of those in most need, including vulnerable groups such as disabled children. The UK also provides tailored support through specialist paediatric centres for children with behavioural and physical disabilities that are designed to meet their physical and learning needs.

Department for Education

Pupils: Personal Records

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children's personal confidential identifying data from the national pupil database was given to journalists working for the Telegraph in 2013; and if she will make a statement.

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children's personal, confidential identifying data from the national pupil database was given to BBC Newsnight in 2014; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The Department may legally share data from the National Pupil Database or elements of it with third parties, using powers set out in Section 537A of the Education Act 1997 and the Education Individual Pupil Information Prescribed Persons England Regulations 2009. Organisations requesting access under those powers must show how it will be used to promote pupils' education, through evidence or research. As part of the approvals process, officials, including legal experts and senior civil servants with data expertise, assess the application for public benefit, proportionality (ensuring the minimum amount of data is used to meet the purpose), legal underpinning, and that the strict information security standards we enforce have been satisfied. The purpose of request by The Daily Telegraph was to provide more detailed information for parents about the relative achievements of different schools in different subjects for a range of pupils. This request did not contain any data items that are highly sensitive or have potential to allow children to be identified. It did not contain key identifiers of name, address, postcode, date of birth or reference numbers. The purpose of the request from BBC Newsnight was to assess progress in reducing geographical, social and economic disparities in education performance. This request contained some sensitive data items (language, ethnicity, primary special educational needs type, and indicators of looked after status or service child status). It did not contain key identifiers of name, address, postcode, date of birth or reference numbers. The Department does not maintain records of the number of children included in historic data extracts.

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the timetable is for a decision on the mandatory introduction of personal, social, health and economic education for schools in England.

Nick Gibb: We want to help all schools to deliver high-quality Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education so that all young people are equipped to have healthy and respectful relationships, and leave school with the knowledge to prepare them for adult life.The Children and Social Work Act places a duty on the Secretary of State to make Relationships Education mandatory in primary schools and RSE mandatory in secondary schools through regulations. The Act also provided the Secretary of State with a power to make PSHE mandatory in all schools.The Department intends to conduct thorough and wide-ranging engagement with stakeholders, which will help us to reach an evidence-based decision on PSHE, as well as to determine the content of the regulations and statutory guidance. We will set out shortly more details about the engagement process, the timetable and the work to consider age-appropriate subject content. We will consult on draft regulations and guidance and the regulations will then be laid in the House allowing for a full and considered debate. We are working towards schools teaching the new subjects from September 2019.

Universities: Mental Health Services

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to address mental health problems within universities.

Joseph Johnson: Mental health is a priority for this Government. This is why the Department for Health, together with the Department for Education (DfE), is publishing a joint green paper on Children and Young People, which will set out plans to transform specialist services and support in education settings and for families.As autonomous organisations, it is for Higher Education Institutions to determine what welfare and counselling services they need to provide to their students. Each institution will be best placed to identify the needs of their particular student body, including taking actions in line with any legal responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010.The DfE is engaging with Universities UK (UUK) on their ongoing programme of work on Mental Health in Higher Education (MHHE). As part of UUK's MMHE Programme, UUK launched their Step Change programme on 4 September, which encourages higher education leaders to adopt mental health as a strategic imperative and implement a whole institution approach. Additionally, as part of MHHE, UUK has worked in partnership with the Institute for Public Policy Research to strengthen the evidence-base on mental health in higher education.Their independent report – ‘Not by Degrees: Improving student mental health in the UK's universities’ was published on 4 September 2017 - https://ippr.org/research/publications/not-by-degrees.

Domestic Violence

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of women who have experienced domestic abuse who have had their children temporarily removed from their care by local authorities in each of the last three years.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I am sorry, but the department does not hold the information requested.

Pupils: Oldham

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of per pupil spending in Oldham in each year from 2010 to date.

Nick Gibb: Information about all school funding allocations is published annually by the Department. Details of Dedicated Schools Grant allocations are available:2016 to 2017https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2016-to-20172015 to 2016https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2015-to-20162014 to 2015https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-2014-to-20152013 to 2014https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-2013-to-20142012 to 2013http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130102174420/http://education.gov.uk/schools/adminandfinance/financialmanagement/schoolsrevenuefunding/a00200465/schools-funding-settlement-2012-132011 to 2012http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130108231214/http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/adminandfinance/financialmanagement/schoolsrevenuefunding/settlement2012pupilpremium2010 to 2011http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130104034551/http://education.gov.uk/schools/adminandfinance/financialmanagement/schoolsrevenuefunding/archive/a0064860/final-allocation-of-dedicated-schools-grant-2010-11

Offences against Children

Alex Burghart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to publish her response to the consultation on mandatory reporting and acting on child abuse and neglect.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The consultation 'Reporting and acting on child abuse and neglect' sought views on the advisability, risk, nature and scope of a mandatory duty to report child abuse and neglect and an alternative duty focused on taking appropriate action, as well as the effects of embedding current government reforms. The government has committed to laying a report before Parliament on the outcome of the consultation. Submissions are being considered and a government response will be published in due course. Just as it was right to consider in depth the evidence around these questions, it is important that we apply equally careful consideration to formulating our response in such a complex policy area, with such vitally important implications for the safety and welfare of children.

University Technical Colleges: Closures

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much (a) revenue and (b) capital spending was allocated from the public purse to each university technical college that has closed since 2010.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Holding answer received on 30 October 2017



There are currently 49 open university technical colleges (UTCs). Since 2010, seven UTCs have closed. These are:Name of UTCDate of closureBlack Country UTCAugust 2015Hackney UTCAugust 2015Central Bedfordshire UTCAugust 2016Daventry UTCAugust 2017Greater Manchester Sustainable Engineering UTCAugust 2017Tottenham UTCAugust 2017UTC LancashireAugust 2017 The primary objective of the Department when making a decision to close a school is to ensure the best possible educational outcomes for pupils and to secure value for money for the taxpayer. The Department’s published accounts include the capital and revenue spending for any UTCs which has closed. Capital funding for open free schools, UTCs and studio schools where costs have been finalised is published on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/capital-funding-for-open-free-schools. The final capital costs for all UTCs that have closed since 2010 have not yet been published but are due to be included in the next publication round in coming months. Schools block funding allocations are published on gov.uk. The link for post 16 data is found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-education-funding-allocations. Pupil premium: allocations and conditions of grant are published on gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and-alternative-provision-settings. We are in the process of making a routine update to the data that we hold on pre and post-opening grant allocations for free schools, UTCs and Studio Schools, following the opening of new schools, in September. We will be publishing the latest data on gov.uk, in the coming weeks.

Free Schools: Closures

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which free schools have closed since 2010; and how much (a) revenue and (b) capital expenditure was disbursed on each of those schools.

Mr Robert Goodwill: There are currently 390 open free schools. Since 2010, eight free schools have closed. These are:Name of free schoolDate of closureDiscovery New SchoolApril 2014The Durham Free SchoolMarch 2015Dawes Lane AcademyAugust 2015Stockport Technical SchoolAugust 2015St Michael’s Secondary SchoolAugust 2016Southwark Free SchoolFebruary 2017Collective SpiritAugust 2017Bolton WanderersAugust 2017 The primary objective of the Department when making a decision to close a school is to ensure the best possible educational outcomes for pupils and to secure value for money for the taxpayer. The Department’s published accounts include the capital and revenue spending for any free schools which has closed. Capital funding for open free schools, university technical colleges and studio schools, where costs have been finalised, is published on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/capital-funding-for-open-free-schools. The final capital costs for all free schools that have closed since 2010 have not yet been published but are due to be included in the next publication round in coming months. Schools block funding allocations are published on gov.uk. The link for pre 16 is found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/schools-block-funding-allocations and post 16 data is found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-education-funding-allocations. Pupil premium: allocations and conditions of grant are published on gov.uk found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and-alternative-provision-settings. We are in the process of making a routine update to the data that we hold on pre and post-opening grant allocations for free schools, UTCs and Studio Schools, following the opening of new schools, in September. We will be publishing the latest data on gov.uk, in the coming weeks.

Students: Loans

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with HM Treasury on whether her Department can retain for 2018-19 loans funding allocations for further education learners not taken up in 2017-18.

Anne Milton: Forecasted expenditure on Advanced Learner Loans is agreed with HM Treasury on an annual basis. This takes into account historic trends of take-up and any policy changes that are likely to have an impact on future demand. To date, in each year that Advanced Learner loans have been available, funding has been available to meet the demand from learners.

Students: Loans

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the number of applications from learners aged over 24 for advanced learner loans in 2016-17.

Anne Milton: The Student Loans Company figures show that the take-up of Advanced Learner Loans by those aged 24 and over was lower in the 2016/17 academic year than it was in 2015/16, by around 8,000. The Department is examining the reasons for this trend and, with its delivery partners, will continue to provide support to colleges and training providers to improve awareness and understanding of Advanced Learner Loans.

Students: Loans

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with stakeholders on requirements on new further education provider entrants who wish to gain access to further education loans.

Anne Milton: The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) decided not to announce a loans provider expansion exercise earlier in 2017. Following consultation with the Association of Colleges and the Association and Employment and Learning Providers, the ESFA published criteria against which providers could apply for a loans facility in June 2017. The criteria is set out in the Advanced Learner Loans Funding and Performance Management Rules 2017/18. Learners can obtain an Advanced Learner Loan to support study at over 700 providers.

Institute for Apprenticeships

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprentices are currently employed by the Institute for Apprenticeships.

Anne Milton: The Institute for Apprenticeships is an independent body with responsibility for the development and approval of apprenticeship standards. I have therefore asked the Institute to write to the Rt hon. Member for Blackpool South directly responding to the question about apprentices currently employed by the Institute for Apprenticeships. A copy of that response will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses when it is available.

Students: Loans

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to raise the number of applications for further education loans.

Anne Milton: The Department recognises that there is a continued need to support colleges and training providers to ensure all potential learners are supported in their awareness and understanding of Advanced Learner Loans. We will continue to encourage colleges and training providers in their outreach activity.

Adult Education: Finance

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the adult education budget is in each region of England for the current financial year.

Anne Milton: The Adult Education Budget (AEB) is not allocated to specific regions. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) allocates AEB to individual providers, who under the current freedoms and flexibility policy are able to use their funds to support any English learner. The published allocations can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sfa-funding-allocations-to-training-providers-2016-to-2017.

Physical Education: GCE A-level

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will reverse the decision not to include speed skating as an option available in A-level PE for the current academic year.

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons speed skating was not included as one of the options available in A-level PE courses for the current academic year.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The subject content for GCSE and A-level PE was revised in 2015 to address concerns that the previous GCSE and A level courses were not of comparable rigor to other subjects, did not provide suitable progression and had led to inequalities in assessment. As part of these revisions, the activity list was reviewed to ensure that all activities could be assessed reliably, were of comparable demand amongst pupils, and were manageable for schools to assess. The inclusion or non-inclusion of sports does not represent a view on the legitimacy or value of the activity. The government will review the activity list in autumn 2018, following the first examinations next summer. We will agree this process with the exam boards and announce details closer to the time.

Pre-school Education: East of England

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention rates are for qualified early-years teachers who began their employment in each of the last five years in the East of England.

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention rates are for qualified early-years teachers who began their employment in each of the last five years in the South West.

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention rates are for qualified early-years teachers who began their employment in each of the last five years in inner London.

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention rates are for qualified early-years teachers who began their employment in each of the last five years in outer London.

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention rates are for qualified early-years teachers who began their employment in each of the last five years in the South East.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I am sorry, but the information requested is not available as the department does not collect individual level data on qualified early-years staff.

Teachers: South East

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention rates are for teachers in the South East who qualified in each of the last five years.

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention rates are for teachers in inner London who qualified in each of the last five years.

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention rates are for teachers in outer London who qualified in each of the last five years.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not available in the format requested.The retention rates for qualified teachers in England who began their employment in each of the last five years was published in Table 8 of the ‘School Workforce in England: November 2016’ in June 2017: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2016. Regional versions of these statistics are not available. The Department has published information at regional level on the percentage of teachers who leave each year. These statistics were published in tables 2.1a and 2.1b in the ‘Local analysis of teacher workforce: 2010 to 2015’:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-analysis-of-teacher-workforce-2010-to-2015.

Teachers: East of England

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention rates are for qualified teachers in the East of England who began their employment in each of the last five years.

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention figures are for qualified teachers in Yorkshire and the Humber who began their employment in each of the last five years.

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention figures are for qualified teachers in the West Midlands who began their employment in each of the last five years.

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention figures are for qualified teachers in the East Midlands who began their employment in each of the last five years.

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention figures are for qualified teachers in the South West who began their employment in each of the last five years.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not available in the format requested.The retention rates for qualified teachers in England who began their employment in each of the last five years was published in Table 8 of the ‘School Workforce in England: November 2016’ in June 2017: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2016. Regional versions of these statistics are not available. The Department has published information at regional level on the percentage of teachers who leave each year. These statistics were published in tables 2.1a and 2.1b in the ‘Local analysis of teacher workforce: 2010 to 2015’:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-analysis-of-teacher-workforce-2010-to-2015.

Qualifications

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people in (a) Ashfield constituency, (b) the East Midlands and (c) England have no academic qualifications; and what proportion of the population that is.

Nick Gibb: Figures for the proportion of the population who do not hold academic qualifications are not available.Labour Force Survey identifies people who have qualifications below Level 2, including those who have no qualifications. The figures are published annually at national level as part of the Further Education and Skills statistical release:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/further-education-and-skills-march-2017In 2016 an estimated 5,623,000 adults aged 19-64 years had highest level of qualification below Level 2, amounting to 17.2% of the population. This information can be found in Table 15.1.The enhanced methodology used to produce these figures, which was agreed with the Office for National Statistics, does not support local area subnational breakdowns. Regional breakdowns have not been published in recent years.

GCSE: Ashfield

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of pupils who have left schools in Ashfield constituency with no qualifications at GCSE level or equivalent in each of the last five academic years.

Nick Gibb: The number of pupils at the end of Key stage 4, with no GCSE or equivalent qualifications, is not a published statistic. We do however; publish some related statistics, for each of the Key stage 4 headline measures, by parliamentary constituency (Table PC1)[1]. We have been able to use existing data and processes to derive the statistic requested for Ashfield constituency for 2015 and 2016.In 2015 3.0% of pupils left schools in Ashfield constituency with no GCSE or equivalent qualifications.In 2016 2.1% of pupils left schools in Ashfield constituency with no GCSE or equivalent qualifications.The information for previous years is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate costs. [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/584152/SFR03_2017_pupil_residency_and_school_location_tables.xls)

Education: Finance

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding education for 16 to 19-year olds.

Anne Milton: The Secretary of State has regular discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding for all aspects of her Department’s responsibilities, including education for 16 to 19-year olds. Long term funding decisions are made as part of government’s Spending Review process; the current Spending Review period extends up to and including 2019-2020.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds: Grants

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what taxpayer funded grants including EU funds have been received by the RSPB in the last five years.

George Eustice: The department publishes details of all expenditure over £25,000, including grants, at https://data.gov.uk/dataset/financial-transactions-data-defra. The majority of grants are made under the Darwin/Official Development Assistance (ODA) initiative. The RSPB also receives funding under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Details of specific grants made under CAP in the 2015 and 2016 European Community financial years (16 October – 15 October) can be found via http://cap-payments.defra.gov.uk.

African Swine Fever: Disease Control

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what action he is taking to reduce the risk of the spread of African swine fever to pigs in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice: Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) monitor outbreaks of diseases in the UK and across the world and regularly publish our risk assessments on gov.uk. Recent cases of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Eastern Europe, specifically domestic pigs in backyard holdings in Poland, suggest reduced biosecurity in the region, and caused the UK risk level to be raised in September to low from very low. EU safeguard measures restrict the movement of pigs and pig products out of ASF affected areas and we receive regular updates on the application of disease control measures in each Member State. The restriction zones cover a wide area. Within the UK, further precautions to reduce the risk of accidental introduction or spread of disease include a ban on the feeding of swill and catering waste to animals, and a standstill on movement after the introduction of new stock to a farm. The movement of vehicles and people, particularly farm workers, and personal imports of pork products from ASF affected areas present a potential risk. Defra, APHA and the pig industry are working together on a communications campaign for pig keepers to highlight the increased risk of ASF. This will focus on the importance of biosecurity and raise awareness of the disease risks associated with illegal feeding of kitchen waste or pork products to pigs.

Nitrogen Dioxide: EU Law

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many UK air quality monitoring sites have reported higher annual nitrogen dioxide levels in the air than are permitted under the EU's 2007 Ambient Air Quality Directive in the last three years.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The limit value specified by the Air Quality Directive (2008/50/EC) for annual mean concentrations of nitrogen dioxide is 40 µg/m3. 26 UK monitoring sites reported an annual measured concentration of nitrogen dioxide greater than 40 µg/m3 in 2014, 2015 or 2016. Some sites report exceedances of the limit value in multiple years. Our modelling indicates that only 8 percent of road kilometres will be in exceedance of the average annual concentration limits next year. Average measurements of nitrogen dioxide at roadside locations outside London have fallen by 16 to 18 percent since 2010. Defra’s national network of air quality monitors includes 279 sites across the UK. These are organised into networks that gather information for a wide range of pollutants on the state of the air in towns and cities as well as in rural areas. Some monitoring sites are also focused on measuring specific sources – e.g. road traffic or industry. All monitoring data is available on the UK Air website and is used to report levels of pollutants that impact on human health and ecosystems.

Environment Protection

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Government plans to publish the 25 year Environmental Plan announced in 2015.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government will publish its 25 year environment plan in due course.

Waste Management: EU Action

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether new EU waste and recycling legislation being negotiated at EU level will apply in the UK given the deadline for transposing that legislation falling after the UK plans to leave the EU.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The UK will continue to have all of the rights, obligations and benefits that membership brings, up until the point we leave the EU. Where transposition deadlines fall after the UK has left the EU, the outcome will depend on UK-EU negotiations.We want to be the first generation to leave the environment of England in a better state than we inherited it. We remain committed to making the most of our resources, to reducing waste and to increasing reuse and recycling.

Antelope: Africa

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with his African counterparts on addressing the reduction in numbers of antelope in Africa.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: There have been no discussions with African counterparts on addressing the reduction in numbers of antelope in Africa specifically. During the 17 Conference of the Parties in Johannesburg in September 2016, bilateral meetings were held with the South African Ministers for the Environment and Tourism to discuss broad conservation priorities, and the challenges that are faced within range lands which include those of antelope.

Panda Bears: China

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Chinese Government on further panda bear exchanges to enhance the population of that species.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: There are two giant pandas in the UK, both in Edinburgh Zoo, on a 10 year loan as part of a global captive breeding programme to support the conservation of the species. Unfortunately despite five attempts, the breeding programme at Edinburgh Zoo has not yet produced any cubs. There have been no discussions with the Chinese Government on further giant panda exchanges.

Salmon: Conservation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to (a) protect the habitat of salmon and (b) increase the salmon population in the waters of the UK.

George Eustice: Policy on the conservation of salmon is devolved and a range of actions are being taken to protect salmon habitat and conserve salmon stock levels by the UK Fisheries Administrations.The Environment Agency together with salmon conservation, angling and governmental partners has developed the Salmon Five Point Approach to deliver a better future for salmon. This is looking at opportunities to address the major issues which affect salmon across their whole life cycle, including protecting and improving salmon habitats.

Fisheries Convention

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government's policy is on the UK's membership of the London Fisheries Convention when the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: On 3 July, the UK gave notice to withdraw from the London Fisheries Convention.

Water Companies: Complaints

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of complaints made against water companies in each of the last five years.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Consumer Council for Water (CCWater) publishes an annual report about complaint handling in the water industry in England and Wales. The reports provide details of complaints to water companies as well as complaints handled by CCWater. The reports are available on their website at: https://www.ccwater.org.uk/households/company-performance/waterindustrycomplaintsreport/, and date back to 2011-2012. Water companies received 95,274 written complaints between April 2016 and March 2017. Written complaints have decreased every year since 2012-13 when water companies received 150,942 written complaints. Ofwat, the independent economic regulator of the water sector for England and Wales, deals with certain types of complaints including water or sewer main requisitions, sewer adoptions and sewer flooding on a customer’s property. It publishes information on the complaints it receives in its annual reports. We have no information about complaints against water companies in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Those devolved administrations have separate processes for collating details of them.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to increase the use of the gamma interferon test in bovine TB high-risk areas.

George Eustice: The annual number of interferon-gamma tests carried out in England in 2016 was 73,228, an increase from 18,384 in 2009.Use of the interferon-gamma test has been further increased this year, based on specific criteria designed to resolve TB breakdowns in cattle herds in the High Risk Area of England. The expansion in the use of this test is expected to continue over the coming years.

Animal Welfare: Flintshire

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many animal cruelty offences and convictions have taken place in Flintshire County in the last three years.

George Eustice: The number of offenders proceeded against and found guilty of offences under Sections 4 to 8 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, in the North Wales Police Force area, from 2014 to 2016, can be viewed in the table below. From 1 January 2015 Flintshire Local Justice Area merged into North East Wales Local Justice Area and this is why the table sets out the data for both areas.Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts of animal cruelty (1), North Wales Police Force area, 2014 to 2016 (2)(3)Force / Local Justice Area201420152016Proceeded againstFound guiltyProceeded againstFound guiltyProceeded againstFound guiltyNorth Wales17134496of which   Flintshire County (4)1NilNilNilNilNilNorth East Wales (4)NilNil3374 (1) Defined as SS4-8 Animal Welfare Act 2006(2) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed.Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.(3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.(4) Flintshire Local Justice Area merged into North East Wales Local Justice Area from 1 January 2015Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.

Animal Welfare: Sutton

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many animal cruelty offences (a) have been committed and (b) convictions have been secured in the London Borough of Sutton in each of the last three years.

George Eustice: The number of offenders proceeded against and found guilty of offences under Sections 4 to 8 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, in the Metropolitan Police Force and South London Justice Area, from 2014 to 2016, can be viewed in the table (Annex 1). From 1 January 2012, Sutton Local Justice Area merged into South London Local Justice Area and this is why we do not hold details for the Sutton area.Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts of animal cruelty (1), Metropolitan Police Force area, 2014 to 2016 (2)(3)Force / Local Justice Area201420152016Proceeded againstFound guiltyProceeded againstFound guiltyProceeded againstFound guiltyMetropolitan Police634770546246of which  South London Local Justice area (4)1215810115 (1) Defined as SS4-8 Animal Welfare Act 2006(2) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.(3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.(4) Sutton Local Justice Area merged into South London Local Justice Area from 1 January 2012.Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.

Neonicotinoids: EU Law

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the procedures to monitor the presence of neonicotinoid pesticides in UK water in line with the European Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/495 of 20 March 2015 are; and if he will publish the results of that monitoring.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Environment Agency monitors the presence of the five neonicotinoid pesticides listed in EU Decision 2015/495 (known as “the Watch List”) in English rivers. The respective agencies of the devolved administrations conduct monitoring in their areas. Water samples are taken within rivers and other waterbodies at least once annually for the analysis of all of the substances. England has 14 sampling points and there are two for Scotland, and one each for Northern Ireland and Wales. The sampling locations ensure that a variety of different water quality pressures (agricultural, urban and industrial) are represented. As required under the above decision the UK submits the monitoring data to the EU Commission for EU-wide analysis. The first monitoring period was from September 2015 to December 2016. Pesticide levels measured in UK rivers in this period have been reported to the European Commission and are currently being reviewed. The second year of monitoring will conclude in December of this year. Documents provided to the Water Framework Working Groups are all publicly available on the Commission’s CIRCA website, under Interest Group 'WFD CIRCA: "Implementing the Water Framework Directive”.

Plastics: Recycling

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much recycled polyethylene terephthalate was produced in the UK in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We do not collect data on plastic placed on the market by type of plastic.

Fly-tipping

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of fly-tipping incidents on private land in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15, (c) 2015-16 and (d) 2016-17.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We do not hold information on the number of fly-tipping incidents on private land.

Bats and Owls: Conservation

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to encourage landowners to erect owl and bat boxes on their land; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Established guidance exists on how to help our native bat species including the provision of bat boxes to provide bats with alternative resting places or to encourage bats into areas where there are few existing suitable roost sites. Further guidance can be accessed through the Bat Conservation Trust: www.bats.org.uk. Wildlife boxes (for bats and certain bird species including barn owls) can also be funded through the Countryside Stewardship scheme on eligible land where it would be beneficial for the species.

Animal Breeding: Dogs

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of incorporating the assured breeder scheme into the new dog breeding regulations.

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that inspections carried out by assured breeder scheme inspectors are not duplicated by local authorities under the new dog breeding regulations.

George Eustice: We recognise that the Kennel Club’s Assured Breeders Scheme provides benefits for animal welfare and is a hallmark by which potential purchasers can obtain a puppy. Under our proposals anyone who is a member of an organisation that has been certified by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service will benefit from being assessed as lower risk and attract fewer inspections, a lower fee and be able to show a higher star rating on any merchandising or advertising they may employ.

Food: Waste

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2017 to Question 105344, whether there is a timetable for the completion of the work to assess the carbon reduction potential of separate food waste collections in England; and whether the results of that work will be published.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The analysis of carbon reduction potential of introducing separate food waste collections in England will form part of the evidence base for the Resources and Waste Strategy. The Resources and Waste Strategy will be published in 2018.

Agriculture

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to publish the 25-year food and farming plan.

George Eustice: The government’s manifesto committed to publishing a 25 Year Environment Plan and we remain committed to this. We will also be setting out our plans for the future of the food and farming sectors ahead of the introduction of the Agriculture Bill later this session.

Waste Disposal

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2017 to Question 107863, if the Government will conduct a public consultation to inform its Resources and Waste Strategy in 2018.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Resources and Waste Strategy is still in the early stages of development. Officials are in the process of developing plans for engagement and more details will be announced in due course.

Animal Breeding: Dogs

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with breeders deemed low-risk in the new dog breeding regulations on the effect of those regulations on those breeders.

George Eustice: Defra is developing revised regulations on dog breeding and other licensable animal activities in close liaison with key stakeholders including members of the Canine and Feline Sector Group. Underpinning the new regulations will be a risk-based system whereby those deemed low risk will benefit from longer licences, fewer inspections and a lower fee. The risk based system is being developed by key stakeholders including those that represent dog breeders. No specific discussions have taken place with dog breeders themselves but the proposals have been widely consulted upon.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Brexit

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much his Department plans to spend on preparations for no deal being reached in negotiations on the UK leaving the EU.

George Eustice: Defra is amongst those government departments whose work is most closely linked to and affected by EU activity, legal frameworks and funding. |Some 80% of Defra’s work is framed by EU legislation and a quarter of EU laws apply to Defra’s sectors. As a result, Defra has an extensive programme of work focused on delivering a smooth exit from the EU, and like all government departments, we are working on preparations for a range of scenarios. The government has committed over £250 million of new money in this financial year for EU exit preparations in departments across Whitehall.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Department for Exiting the European Union: Chief Scientific Advisers

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2017 to Question 9857, if he will provide an update on the appointment of a Chief Scientific Adviser to his Department.

Mr Steve Baker: Pursuant to the answer of 14 September I can confirm that the Department has appointed Chris Jones, Director for Justice Security and Migration (JSM) as the Department Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA).The role of a CSA within the Department has been very carefully considered. We are a unique, time-limited department with a coordinating function covering the full range of government business. We are reliant upon other Government departments to lead on policy development, including incorporating their own specialist scientific advice where necessary. We recognise that a CSA will ensure that the departmental decisions are informed by the best science and engineering advice and to provide a route for us to engage directly with the wider network of CSAs where necessary.

Attorney General

David Kelly

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Attorney General, if he will consider overturning the decision to classify documents about the death of Dr David Kelly; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: The circumstances surrounding the death of Dr David Kelly were considered extensively by my predecessor in 2011. The investigation that he commissioned reviewed all of the relevant documents and evidence. The then Attorney General’s conclusion at the end of that process was that a fresh inquest or inquiry into the death was not warranted. A written statement setting out the detailed reasons for the Attorney’s decision was placed in the House of Commons library in June 2011. That statement was accompanied by a good deal of additional material, including the independent reports that were commissioned. I am not persuaded there is any reason to re-visit the matter.

Ministry of Justice

Asylum: Legal Aid Scheme

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to enable refugees and asylum seekers to access legal aid.

Dominic Raab: Our legal aid system is a fundamental pillar of access to justice; that is why we have made sure that legal aid continues to be available for the most vulnerable in our society and for the most serious cases. The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 provides for legal aid to be available, among other matters, for asylum cases, immigration detention, immigration applications and appeals in cases of human trafficking and modern slavery, subject to a test of the applicant’s financial means and the merits of their case.This government is absolutely committed to ensuring access to justice, and it will remain at the heart of our reforms.

Prisons: Mobile Phones

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the practicality of installing Faraday cages in or around Britain's prisons in order to block illegal mobile telephone usage by prisoners; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The illicit use of mobile phones undermines the safety and security of prisons. We are taking urgent and decisive action as the number of mobile phones and SIM cards seized continues to be too high.We have invested £2million into detection equipment, including hand-held detectors and portable detection devices. We are also working with mobile network operators to deliver ground-breaking technology, which will stop mobiles smuggled into prisons from working.Faraday cages block all radio signals from entering and exiting the spaces around which they are placed, which would compromise radio contact between prison staff, as well as other critical infrastructure.

Legal Aid Scheme: Expenditure

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, by how much expenditure on legal aid has been reduced in each year since the introduction of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012; and whether the reduction is in line with the Government's targets.

Dominic Raab: The table below shows the expenditure on cases concluding in each complete financial year since the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 came into force in April 2013. Financial YearLegal aid expenditure (£m)2013-14 2,009 2014-15 1,795 2015-16 1,635 2016-17 1,602  The change in spend shown above cannot be attributed directly to the Act as there are a range of factors that affect legal aid spend in any given year. Prior to the introduction of the Act, the government outlined anticipated savings of £410m in its published impact assessments. The Government will fulfil its commitment to undertake a post-implementation review to assess the impact of these changes to the legal aid regime.

Offences against Children

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to his oral Answer of 5 September 2017, Official Report, column 13, what the timetable is for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority to publish its revised guidelines on compensation for victims of child sexual abuse.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) operates in accordance with the rules of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme which have been approved by Parliament. To help its staff interpret these rules in a consistent way, CICA provides them with operational guidance. This guidance is not a public document. Yesterday CICA issued new guidance to its staff on compensating young victims of sexual abuse. This is part of a series of measures by CICA to improve the way that applications involving claims of child sexual abuse are handled. The new guidance has been shared by CICA with stakeholders, including those who made vital contributions to the review.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average cost to the public purse was of personal independence payment tribunals by region in the last 12 months.

Dominic Raab: The information requested is not held centrally. The cost of personal independence payment hearings is included in the overall cost of the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support Appeal).

County Courts: Oldham

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much was paid to terminate leases as a result of the decision to close Oldham County Court.

Dominic Raab: Oldham County Court was exited in September 2017 and no payments were made to terminate the lease. Dilapidation settlements for the building are outstanding and will be subject to negotiation between HMCTS and the landlord as appropriate.

Courts: Greater Manchester

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) county and (b) magistrates' court cases have been heard in Greater Manchester in each year since 2010; and how many defendants did not attend their hearings in each type of court in each such year.

Dominic Raab: The number of hearings that took place in Greater Manchester County and Magistrates Courts since 2010 is published in the Civil Justice Statistics Quarterly and Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly publications. Information about the number of defendants who did not attend their hearings is not collected and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Civil Proceedings: Legal Aid Scheme

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many civil proceedings legal aid was granted where the applicant was (a) under 18 and (b) 18 to 24, by area of law in each of the last six years.

Dominic Raab: Figures for the number of civil proceedings where legal aid has been granted for those under 18 and between 18 to 24 are in the attached table, broken down by category of law and financial year since 2011/12.The number of proceedings granted are shown against the period in which the decision was made and recorded and exclude unknowns, which could contain applicants under 18 or 18-24 years old. Unknowns comprise 3% of all grants in 2013-14 but only between 0% and 1% in other years.



Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 19.59 KB)

Ministry of Justice: Brexit

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the costs incurred by his Department in the current financial year in preparation for the UK leaving the EU.

Dominic Raab: As the UK’s departure from the European Union impacts upon most areas of departmental business, it is not possible to provide an estimate of the costs incurred by the department in this financial year.

Legal Aid Scheme

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment the Government has made of the potential effect of its proposal to reduce the cap on the number of claimable pages under the Litigators' Graduated Fee Scheme on (a) historic sex abuse prosecutions and (b) other complex cases.

Dominic Raab: We published an Impact Assessment alongside our response to consultation –https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/lgfs-and-court-appointees/ There is no data to suggest that clients will not have access to the same criminal legal aid services as they do now. We are seeking to return expenditure to the levels they were before a Costs Judge decision in the case of Napper caused an unintended increase in expenditure. There is no evidence that those levels are no longer sustainable.

Young Offenders: Safety

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent representations he has received on levels of safety for young offenders in young offender institutes; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Phillip Lee: As the recent Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) annual report stated, levels of violence within the youth estate are too high. We take these findings extremely seriously and improving safety and reducing violence in custody is my highest priority. Following the Government’s response to Charlie Taylor’s review of the youth justice system, a new Youth Custody Service has been created to focus on performance in the Youth Secure Estate and a Youth Justice Reform Programme has been established. The aims of the programme are to improve standards by making youth custody a place of safety, both for children and those who work there; and to improve the life chances of children in custody. We are investing £64 million to entrench the reform of youth custody. Construction is already underway on the first in a series of new specialised units for the most vulnerable young people in custody and we are also developing two new Secure Schools. We will boost the number of frontline staff in youth offender institutions by 20% – that’s 120 additional recruits, including newly trained specialist youth justice workers, equipped to tackle the needs of young offenders.

Prisons and Probation: Pay

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the forthcoming increases in annual salaries of (a) bands three to five prison officers, (b) all staff who work in public prisons and (c) all employees of HM Prison and Probation Service.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Figures shared with HM Treasury estimated that the 2017/18 pay award for (a) bands three to five prison officers to be £17.8m. This figure also includes the estimated pay award for band 2 operational prison staff, commonly referred to as Operational Service Grades or OSG’s. If you include the estimated pay award for operational managers (bands seven to eleven) this increases the overall cost for operational staff covered by the remit of the Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB) to £19.1m When reporting quarterly workforce data, HMPPS reports non-operational staff in one group and does not break down the number working in roles based in either our Headquarters (HQ) or prisons. It is therefore difficult to provide an estimate on the costs of all HMPPS staff working in prisons alone as we don’t disaggregate them from those staff working in HQ. The estimated pay award for all non-operational staff not covered by the remit of the PSPRB and working across the estate including prisons is £9.8m. The estimated pay award for all employees of HM Prison and Probation Service, including those working in the National Probation Service (NPS) which was estimated at £3.8m, is £32.7m.

Cabinet Office

Gulf Strategy Unit: Finance

David Linden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 19 October 2016 to Question 47638 and pursuant to the Answer of 12 October 2017 to Question 8077, for what reasons the budget for the Gulf Strategy Integrated Delivery Team has more than doubled in the last financial year.

David Linden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people the Gulf Strategy Integrated Delivery Team employs; what proportion of those people are (a) full-time and (b) part-time; and what proportion of those people in each category are (i) military and (ii) civilian.

Damian Green: Holding answer received on 26 October 2017



As a result of recruitment issues the team held vacant positions for some time during FY16/17. These have now been resolved and the budget increase reflects the team’s build-up to full strength.The Gulf Strategy Integrated Delivery team employs six full-time and one part-time Government employees. One is military and six civilian.

Public Sector: Pay

Jo Churchill: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 19 October 2017 to Question 7458, on public sector: pay, if he will make it his policy to publish details of all public sector pay, excluding the Civil Service, above the £100,000 threshold.

Caroline Nokes: The Government has demonstrated its commitment to transparency with a number of senior pay disclosures for the Civil Service since 2010 as set out in my previous answer. Transparency policy in wider public sector workforces is the responsibility of relevant departments.

Italy: Visits Abroad

Tom Brake: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech in Florence of 22 September 2017 on the UK leaving the EU, what the costs were of (a) transport to Florence and back for the Prime Minister, other Ministers and officials, (b) accommodation for the Prime Minister, other Ministers and officials, (c) civil service staff time in arranging the logistics for that event and (d) contracts or arrangements with outside agencies in those logistics.

Damian Green: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Prime Minister: Italy

Tom Brake: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech in Florence of 22 September 2017 on the UK leaving the EU, how many civil servants from which departments attended that event; where accommodation was for the Prime Minister, other Ministers and officials; and which outside contractors or agencies assisted with the logistics for that event.

Damian Green: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

House of Commons Commission

Select Committees: Vacancies

Chris Bryant: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many vacancies for specialist advisers to select committees have been advertised in each of the last five sessions of Parliament.

Tom Brake: Committees are expected to seek potential Specialist Advisers from as wide a range of sources as possible and guidance states that committees should, wherever possible, be offered a choice of candidates. They are advised to use academic institutions, the Library, the National Audit Office and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology whenever appropriate to assist them in their search for Advisers on specific or generic topics. Committees have sometimes advertised for Specialist Advisers by issuing a press notice, and some have used their webpages to offer something like a standing invitation for expressions of interest. No central record of the number of advertised Specialist Adviser vacancies is kept. Information is being gleaned from individual committee records and the Clerk of Committees will write to the hon. Member when that is completed. A record of all Specialist Advisers appointed by a committee can be found in the relevant section of the Sessional Return for each of the years in question.The Sessional Returns can be found at: www.parliament.uk/business/publications/commons/sessional-returns/